My Gamer Life as the Bloodied Beast
by shadowedge27
Summary: I was just your average Joe heading of for bed. But the next thing I know, I was laying flat on my back in a mine. Now with the power of the Gamer and reborn in a world of a series I only watched up to volume 4 as a certain bull faunus I must now try to ensure my survival and escape first before deciding what I will do with the knowledge I have. But first I have to survive.
1. Chapter 1

**Hahaha! Hello there everyone. Shadowedge27 here back again. It's been sometime and I felt a bit motivated to try my hand on something new. Well, not new since gamer fics have been around for a long time but this is something I want to try my hand in too. Also, to make this a bit different than some of the gamer fics I have read this gamer ability will be based on another manhwa rather than on 'The Gamer'. Or rather, I am taking a little bit of both and mixing in my own twist to the gamer ability.**

**Also, the situation is a bit similar to that of 'Playing our Roles' but it's not Roman.**

* * *

**Asterion**

I crack my eye open and sat up quickly once the pain set in. I groaned when I felt like my everything hurt. I hugged myself for a bit while squeezing my eyes shut before realizing something. It wasn't eyes. It was eye. I only felt one of my eyes responding to my commands. In a panic I instinctively reach out and touch my left eye with my left hand only to feel a burned wound as if hot metal had been pressed on to my face.

I then looked down, only to see that instead of sitting up on my bed I was on solid ground. Looking around I find myself in what appears to be a quarry with the sun still able to reach me from my left. He saw that the other peoples around him seem to wearing simple shirts and pants (albeit dirty shirts and pants) while some of them wore what was more akin to rags. I looked down to see I was no better. The only thing I had on me was a badly torn pants and a shirt full of holes. In my right hand, I was gripping a pick axe.

That seemed weird since it was known that dust was incredibly volatile so using a pick axe seemed a bit risky…

Wait, how did I know I, no we, are mining dusts?

Suddenly, pain erupted in my head like a volcano. It was so painful that I could barely let out a whimper as images and voices are forced into me. After what felt like an agonizingly long the pain eventually subsided. I moved my head side to side in an attempt to shake of the pain but soon discovered that the action was meaningless when a message popped in front of me.

**Skill: Longevity activated. Migraine is healed.**

I looked at the blue text box with those black words on it blankly, blinking a few times to make sense of this. It couldn't be. This must be a dream. I am going to wake up any second now back at home. That's right. All I have to do is just lay back down and close my eyes and everything will be alright.

"Hey faunus! Get back to work! Those dust aren't going to mine themselves!" a voice called out. I turned to the source to see a very pissed off man wearing a white uniform glaring at me.

I gulped. I really hope this is a dream.

A few hours later

Like my previous life, I decided to just follow orders like a good little boy. I wanted to argue that I knew nothing of how to mine but that migraine earlier fixed that. Apparently, that migraine was caused by having Adam's memories being pushed into me. Either that or our souls merged but I ended up being the dominant personality.

I wasn't sure which to hope for, Adam dead and his memories are now downloaded into me or Adam and I fused together. I hope it was the first but there was a chance it was the latter as I find myself thinking things that I normally don't think or imagine. Because of this I had knowledge of how to mine.

Oh, I also figured out I was Adam freaking Taurus. What were the odds? After the first hour I was desperate and tried to see if anything would happen if I said 'status'. I wasn't sure what I was hoping for but when the blue scree appearing in front of me showing my name and stats, I knew that I was at least dreaming about myself being a gamer.

**Name: Adam Taurus**

**Class: The gamer**

**Level: 1**

**Title: none**

**Job: None**

**Race: Human (Level 1)**

**HP: 30/50**

**MP: 18/18**

**STR: 8**

**ENDR:10**

**AGI: 5**

**DEX: 7**

**INT: 8**

**WIS:10**

**LUCK: 4**

My eye brow rose slightly at the 'human' race thing. Shouldn't I be a faunus or does this system not have that as a race option and thus auto-assigned the race I am closest to. I was also surprised that my wisdom was as high as endurance. I wasn't surprise by endurance being that high since if the pain I was experiencing earlier was any sign, Adam must have gotten a lot of punishment.

I then looked at his four passive skills.

**Blessing of longevity: Poison, status effect and disease will be healed and sleeping will explosively increase regeneration.**

**Rehabilitation: The ability to recover dismembered body parts.**

**Growth: The ability to grow stronger through increasing level and stats.**

**Mining: Level 14 (The ability to mine anything effectively. The higher the level the more effective your mining skills are. At current level you can mine low level dust with only 30 percent chance an accident will occur. Not recommended mining higher grade dust)**

I looked at Adam's body and then looked back up. "I'm eight or nine and they could force Adam of all people, to push himself to work that much for them?" I felt disgusted at this. Who would be so heartless to… oh wait.

I sigh as I closed the menu and refocus on my work. If I don't wake up in another hour or so then I am definitely not dreaming.

**Skill: mining has leveled up!**

"Thank you." I grumbled underneath my breath.

After another hour I discovered a new bar.

**Fatigue: 100/100 has been reached!**

This instantly caused my body to fall onto my back, drenched in sweat. "Oh god, fatigue must be how tired I am and when I reach one hundred, I lose all my energy. Status."

True enough, there was a bar there that showed his fatigue but also another stat that he missed.

**Stamina: 20**

"Huh, so I guess I increase my stamina it will take longer for my fatigue bar to fill up." I muttered, "So that means I will have to either level up or train this bodies stamina the old fashion way." Now that I think about it, I could increase my stamina through any form of work out right? Though jogging and swimming were probably the best.

**Intelligence has increased by 1**

**Wisdom increased by 1**

Ignoring the messages, I continued my line of thought. That is, if I have the time. Slowly, fatigue overcame me and I closed my eyes for a bit. After what felt like seconds I was woken up by another miner. He seemed to be a lizard faunus if his eyes and scales indicated anything.

"Kid, you really need to watch what where and when you sleep. This is like the third time this week!" He chastised. According to Adam's memories, this man is called Greg. "I managed to cover you for a bit but I think ten minutes is as much as you can risk when taking a nap here. Don't want our overseers seeing one of us slacking off."

Greg sighed, "Adam, I know you do a lot of work, better than most really, but you need to pace yourself. Do things slow and easy so that you don't keep collapsing like this. I mean, being able to keep going at it for two hours of hard labor before you collapse completely is an amazing feat at your age but still…"

I nodded. He was right. The reason I pushed myself here was because I thought that I was like the first gamer who could keep going at it as long as he doesn't run out of HP and MP but I was wrong. This feels closer to the second gamer I read about in Solo Leveling. I looked at my fatigue to see it is now only 2/3 full.

I sigh internally. This means I don't have Gamer's mind, an OP mental buff, and Gamer's body, the ability where any damage I take is only reflected as losing HP. Meaning I can get wounded which would weaken me, if not momentarily disable me, in fights until I heal.

Great, just great. While I like Solo Leveling more than The Gamer it was obvious that The Gamer's version of the ability was better than that of Solo Leveling in some ways like skill books, being able to increase stats from training them and Gamer's mind and Gamer's body were better than the passive buff that the main character in Solo Leveling started off with. If I had a choice than I would have gone with the Gamer's version than the Solo Leveling. Not only that I was against the Necromancer ability since in Solo Leveling Necromancy is used by extracting the mana in the dead body. In other words, it is only usable on animals or peoples since Grimm fades away after they die.

And I am against using that ability on people.

**Intelligence has increased by 1**

**Intelligence increased by 1**

**Wisdom increased by 1**

Yeah, just like that. I don't recall solo leveling being able to do this but the gamer did. I nodded as the text boxes presented a good example of what I meant.

…

Wait a minute. I blinked a few times after seeing this. Oh my God, is it possible? Is my version of the system not that of Solo Leveling or The Gamer but something else completely? Now that I think about it Solo Leveling did not have DEX as a stat and the gamer has DEX but DEX was basically AGI in Solo Leveling. But here, they are two different stats. I also have Stamina as a stat too and luck was something in the Gamer, not Solo Leveling.

On top of that, there was a race level. I played a game where you are a certain race and by reaching level ten of said race you can then change to a better version of the race. Like a normal vampire can then change to high vampire then elder vampire. This was not in any of the Gamers system. But it is in mine.

Now that I think about it, DEX isn't supposed to be for speed but skill. So, that means the higher my DEX the better I can utilize my skills? If that is so that DEX maybe a stat that effects the effectiveness of a skill. That means it can be trained from me mining.

**Intelligence has increased by 1**

Thanks for telling me I am right. Or, at least, mostly right. I opened up my status to see my intelligence is now eleven and my wisdom is twelve. I tried to focus on intelligence and what I saw made me choke on air.

**INT: Ones intelligence. The higher it is the larger your mana pool is. INT is also required to understand the theory behind a technique. The higher it is, the faster you understand the theory and the better said understanding is. Allows you to learn faster from reading and being taught.**

Okay so Intelligence worked like both Gamers but with the twist of the last info. It basically means that I won't be able to learn skills from crushing runes or absorbing skill books. But wait, if intelligence only helped me to learn the theory then that would mean…

I change my focus onto DEX. I sigh at what I saw.

**DEX: Ones skillfulness. The higher the stat is the more skillful you are. Assists you in applying theory of skills and techniques into practice. Also grants better eye and hand coordination.**

Great, this means that even if I understood the theory, it would be useless if my DEX wasn't high enough to help me apply the theory into practice. On top of that, if the skill I am trying to learn require a certain amount of strength or agility or any other stats than he would have to train those too.

If anything, my version just made it harder for him to learn new skills.

"What are you doing Adam?" Greg asked as he stared at me, "Times wasting and you're just sitting there staring at a rock."

I closed my stats and smiled at him, "Sorry, I was just lost in thought you know. I've got a lot to worry about and feel like crap right now." I answered as I got up, "Thanks for taking care of me Greg and I'll be sure to pace myself better." After giving Greg a small bow, I returned to my mining. After all, right now I am Adam Taurus. I practically stole his life even if it was an accident so I felt obligated to do my best to take care of her while I am here. After all, after Adam's parents died in the accident, she is the only family he had left.

With that thought, a sense of comfort filled my chest for a moment before vanishing the next second. That was definitely a sign Adam is still in here somewhere. I smiled. Even with everything going on at least I know I didn't kill Adam from taking his body, at least not completely. Not only that I have a goal now. I have something to work towards and after figuring out how to leave this place I will start thinking about what to do with the knowledge I have about the future of this world.

But for now, I have a sister who needs me.

* * *

**Okay so this is the beginning of basically another gamer fic. Not sure how this will go but I hope this can help me get back on writing. For those familiar with the fics I have written before. If all things go well, I might also release a rewrite of Hero, Beast or warrior and rise of the fallen. Even though I didn't write doesn't mean I didn't think about those fics and how I could have made them better.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so here is a new chapter. I won't be able to write for awhile due to being away because I am on vacation so sorry. I'll only be able to star Writting again next week. Sorry. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any franchise reffrenced or used in this fanfic.**

* * *

**Discoveries**

After a few more hours of work, this time I made sure to pace myself in order to avoid collapsing, we were all guided back to the housing area. The housing area was basically multiple wooden shacks clustered together and surrounded by a wall of iron. The miners lived quite close to the quarry. After a few minutes of walking, I find myself in a wooden shack with dirt floor. Each shack housed fifteen miners and we all have to sleep on the mattresses which were on the floor. We had no pillow or bed.

At least were supplied food and water though the food is usually stalled bread and water. Even then, I made a horrible discovery about the water. You see, the water we get is actually from the watering trough at inside the shack in the corner. The watering trough is refilled every two to three days. Despite the fact that we had to drink from watering trough like barn animals that wasn't the bad part.

After I drank my fill, I had a notification box pop up in front of me.

**Skill: Longevity activated. Negative effects from drinking water polluted by pee is neutralized.**

I spent the next few minutes gagging at that. While drinking water help me recover stamina and my skill neutralized the negative effects it did not mean it was any less disgusting. When I warned my shack mates about this, they not only refuse to believe me without any solid evidence but also accused me of trying to keep all the water to myself.

Good news is, my endurance raised a level. I don't think they do not believe me though. I think they suspect the same thing as well but what other choice do they have. There was no alternative supply of water. The reason they beat me was probably because they felt helpless and powerless about their predicament and used this as an excuse to make themselves feel better by beating me up in order to make them feel superior.

I sigh before I groaned at the action. I was laying slumped on the wall at one corner of the shack. I was able to sleep for a few minutes before waking up. While I was there, I studied everyone else who were sleeping. I recalled that only the miners entered the steel wall while the overseers stayed out. They must be waiting outside in order to make sure none of us manage to escape now that he recalled seeing a large number of guards outside the walls.

The fact that none of the guards or overseers are inside the walls show that they don't really care what happens inside as long as we don't try to bust out. I pushed myself to my feet and looked slowly exited the shack. I made sure to not wake anyone up as it was already eleven. What am I doing outside? Isn't it obvious? I am going to train. After all, …

"Stats, quest." I commanded, while I was mining I and taking breaks periodically I tried experimenting on my ability and discovered a Daily quest. They are basically quests that are given on a daily basis however, I can only choose to do one of them. Unfortunately, one of the quests require a certain item, thus I can't actually use do it.

However, there was the other quest.

**Beginner quest: Complete these exercises.**

**100 push ups**

**100 curl ups**

**100 squats**

**10km running**

I couldn't suppress my smile. This quest was exactly like the one Sung Jin-Woo does. I walked up to the steel wall, which was about fifteen feet tall. Even though I couldn't escape just yet doesn't mean I couldn't train. I also discovered that ten minutes of sleep helps my fatigue to go down by 1/3 so to heal fatigue I only needed to sleep thirty minutes.

I also heal 5 points of HP every ten minutes so I needed one hundred minutes of sleep to recover it completely if it ever went down to one. Speaking of which, I looked at my health and found it was sitting at ten.

Damn, those guys really had to go that far? I lost twenty HP because of them. I was actually five HP away from death. The only I survive was because the skill Undying will activated which halved all damage taken. I had twenty-five HP before they beat me and assuming I slept for ten minutes… I sigh. "Accept beginner quest one."

**Quest accepted.**

**Complete the exercises before twenty-four hours pass.**

I nodded before starting doing my stretches. After a few minutes of stretching I began doing my push-ups, curl ups, and squats. Unfortunately for me, I was getting tired too fast. Slightly breathing a bit heavily, I stood up to my full height and took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds, before letting it go.

I repeat the action a few times before preparing myself for my run. I was thank full Adam had such high stamina due to how hard he had been working as he often pushed himself to meet the demands of the overseers. If this was my body, I would only be able to do twenty of each at best before I needed to take a break.

I started my run along the steel wall. Since no one was watching I was free to do this as I please. After two hours of running I discovered a new skill.

**Skill: Sprinting learnt!**

**Sprint increases movement speed by 10%**

**Agility increased by 1**

Panting I closed the messages and turned to the message I really wanted to see.

**Quest completed!**

**You can now choose one of the following rewards:**

**Reward #1: Status recovery**

**Reward #2: Random box**

**Reward #3: 3 stats points**

I couldn't stop myself from chuckling. Okay, maybe there was an upside to Solo Leveling version of the system. "Accept reward number 3." I then took those skill points and filled put them all in stamina.

The reason being I needed to have the ability to work longer with less breaks. I didn't need to put point in DEX because I can increase it from using skills like mining and, now, sprinting. I can also increase strength through mining as well and endurance can be increased through the accidents I go through.

Intelligence and wisdom are useless for now since they will be useful for when I am planning my escape but that wouldn't happen in another five months at least because of her. According to Adam's memories, he has a younger sister named Ana who, due to an accident wit explosive dust, has her legs severely injured.

She won't be able to walk for six months and she has already been in an Atlas Hospital for three weeks. They actually wanted to just kick her out. In a normal condition, most faunus would take that offer but she would have been alone without the use of her legs.

Thankfully, Adam managed to make a deal. The deal was that if he mine enough dust equivalent to equal the efforts of three average miners then Ana will receive the minimum treatment in order to heal. There was supposed to be a special overseer assigned to him only but the guy couldn't make it today. That overseer was supposed to keep track of how much dust Adam manage to mine every day and at the end of the month, the amount will be totaled and see if it was satisfactory.

This means that if I failed to provide then Ana's treatment will be cancelled and I would have to work harder to pay for the treatment that has already been provided. On top of that, Ana will be alone in the streets of Atlas, of all places, with broken legs meaning any faunus haters, which there are a lot of, in Atlas comes across her she would be unable to run away. I didn't want to hope for those racist to care that she is five years old. I've seen enough of what humans in my world are capable of.

With that thought I closed the status screen and entered a fighting stance. I pulled my left leg back and pulled my left hand back as well while raising my right hand as a fist to the same level as my chest while my left hand is also a fist but raised up to my waist. I then did a simple front kick, followed by a front punch.

**Skill learnt: Hand-to-hand combat (lvl1)**

**Skill learnt: Taekwondo (lvl1)**

I smiled. I learned the basics of taekwondo but only up to yellow belt. I decided to practice the moves a for a few minutes before calling it a day.

**The next day**

"Adam, you seem to be lasting longer than usual." Greg said as he approaches me from behind. I stopped my mining and turn to him with a smile. Now that I have gotten my act together, I have a better ability to pay attention to my surroundings. Greg was a man of average built with somewhat toned muscles due to his day in the mines. Those muscles might have gotten bigger if not for the fact they didn't really have a good source of protein and vitamins. He also wore a simple shirt which were riddled with holes due to an accident with fire dust. He also had black hair and yellow silted eyes.

I smiled at him, "Maybe it's because I've been pacing myself better now." That was partly true. I have been paying attention to my fatigue bar so I made sure to stop and take a break whenever it reaches ninety percent or so.

"That's good to hear." Greg said with a smile, "Brothers know I can't keep covering for you Adam."

I nodded at him, "Thanks for that by the way. I really appreciate it." My response caused Greg to raise his eyebrows.

He then coughed into his fist, "Adam, are you… are you okay?" He asked, seemingly worried about my health. I pondered this. Why is he worried about me? I am not really showing any sign of sickness and his passive skills would warn me about any disease or poisoning before curing them.

"Yes I am. Why do you ask?" I answered back. If I can figure out what is causing him to worry then perhaps, I can solve that problem. After all, if he is worried about me then it might distract him from his own work and our overseers can't have that.

"Well, you seem a lot nicer recently." Greg answered, "I mean, you were nice before but even then, you were a bit distant and cold. Now though? You seem a lot more polite." My eyes widen. Of course, that would cause him to worry. When I took over Adam's body I acted as myself, not Adam. And our personalities can contradict one another in some aspects.

"I am fine." I answered, "Its just that I have a… new perspective about life I suppose." Which is true. Adam and I have very different perspective about life. When I took over his body his and our souls merged, he and I obtain new perspective of live. Though that doesn't mean we accept it. I don't accept his and he doesn't accept mine.

"I see…" Greg responded with a thoughtful look. "Well I suppose that is fine. Just make sure you don't do another 180 with your personality. It's a bit jarring." Greg joked.

I smirked at that, "I'll try but no promises. We should get back to work since one of our overseers is starting to get a bit impatient." I glanced at one of the men in uniform glaring at us. Greg nods and waved goodbye before moving walking away.

I turned back to the dust I was mining. Earth dust was probably one of the easiest since it wouldn't freeze you, burn you, electrocute you or anything like that. At most, it would turn into a large pile of dirt that will wash over and crush you if you are not careful. Okay, maybe wind is the safest with water coming in second.

I looked at his fatigue bar which was now eighty-seven. I could probably mine this first before needing to take a short break again.

After a few hours' we miners were told to take a break so we all went to the cafeteria. Yup, that's right. We had to mine dust for a few hours before breakfast. I'd like to sue this company but I knew I didn't have the rights, power, or authority. Besides, through some legal process or whatever the Schnee Dust Company basically found a way to legalize slavery.

The cafeteria is basically a shack with counter at the end where the food was handed out. There were a few guards there to make sure everyone took an equal amount of food. I went over to grab my food. I didn't have Gamer's body so I still needed to eat after all.

While I ate, I was thankful that the water they provided here was actually clean drinking water. Even so, it was only a bit. There was three slices of bread and one glass of water on my tray. I ate quietly alone. Greg was eating too but he sat with his other friends across the hall.

Our employers don't really provide tables or chairs so we had to eat on the floor. At least they gave us a tray. I sigh, missing my homes comfort. But then again, it didn't matter. After all, my very existence is the definition of-

"Okay everyone, breaks over! Get back to work!" I blinked as I was snapped back into reality by one of the overseers' voice. Shacking my head, I stood up and placed my empty tray with the rest before leaving for the mines.

**A few minutes later**

**Your dexterity has increased by 1!**

**Your strength increased by 1!**

I ignored the text boxes while I continued mining.

**Intelligence increased by 1!**

"What?" I was surprised by the last one before remembering the description. To learn and understand a technique I need intelligence, to use what I know is dexterity and I need the skill itself unlocked to use it. My eyes widen. That means I am not just using the skill, strength and dexterity but also intelligence when using a skill!

"Okay, now I can see a bit more upside to this." I grin while thanking God for this. While I wasn't that religious I am starting to be since I need all the help I can get. I then continued mining after all, my personal overseer is here now. Apparently, the old one got a promotion and will no longer work here so they assigned a new one instead.

He didn't really tell me his name. He only told me the situation and how he is now my overseer. I could tell he was the type that felt superior to me. He held a cocky smirk the entire time as he looked down on me. The way he studied me was like he was looking over a victim about to be thrown to the shark and he was trying to figure out how long I would last.

When I asked his name his answer was, "You do not need my name. You will only be calling me sir or master. Whichever you prefer." The respond causes my chest to feel hot with rage before I shoved it down.

_'Now's not the time Adam!'_ I thought. The feeling of indignity responded and I guess he was demanding '_When would it be time!?'_

I sighed and continued doing my work. As I did so I figured out how my dexterity effected my skills. When it said that I could use my skills more 'skillfully' it actually meant 'efficiently'. That means the higher my dexterity the less stamina an action consumes. Meaning increasing both stamina and dexterity will allow me to last longer.

Maybe there is some good in what I got from having DEX and INT linked to learning and using skills. Once I reached fatigue 90%, I dropped to my knees in an attempt to rest.

CRACK!

I hissed in pain as I felt something strike my back. "Who said you can take break you filthy animal! Get back to work until I say otherwise!" my overseer ordered. I scowled and tried to muster up a reply but it died in my throat as another blow was dealt.

'Where did he even get the whip!? I didn't see it on him earlier!' I thought when I glanced back to see the man holding a black whip. I forced myself up and continued to mine for another fifteen minutes before the alert appeared.

**Fatigue has reached 100/100!**

My body collapsed, this time, I fell on my face. I couldn't feel any energy in me anymore. I knew that I couldn't keep going. Unfortunately, my overseer thought otherwise.

"Who said you could take a nap, huh!?" He raised his whip and strike my back while I was down. I let out a gasp of pain before trying to muster some energy into my arms and legs to try and get up. But it was useless. My limbs refuse to respond.

My overseer's limbs did not suffer the same problem.

Again and again, he whipped my back until it drew blood. Even then he kept going. "Damn it! Now look at what you made me do. I'll have to clean your filthy blood off!" Even after saying that he still kept going.

**END has increased by 1!**

To be honest, I wanted to fall asleep here but I couldn't fall unconscious due to the pain keeping me awake. My health was going down to thirty percent. With the condition met, my skill Undying Spirit activated.

Now that my defense has increased the pain wasn't so bad and I was able to lose conscious. It was by no means because I gave up and wanted to die. I recalled my ability Longevity would allow me to recover my health faster if I was unconscious and to be honest, that was probably my best bet in surviving this ordeal.

**A few minutes later**

I woke up in an unfamiliar place. It looked like a wooden shack at fist but after looking around I found that I was on a bed and surrounding me were other faunus who were in bed as well and they seemed to be in pain due to various injuries.

I sigh, wondering how I got into this mess. All I wanted was to provide for Adams sister, so how did I end up with such a horrible overseer? It must be due to my horrible luck, which is still four. Now that I think about it, that is my lowest star. Maybe I should invest in it the next time I get more stats point.

Wait, wouldn't that be useless now that I already got my overseer. Damn it. Okay, how about I try to calm down. I recall taking lesson on a meditation technique to help me. Okay, first calm my mind and closing my eyes. I tried to control my breathing and pay attention to it. Exhaling longer than inhaling. After doing this three times, I focus on my emotion. I then try to visualizer a flame in the middle of my brain and focus on said flame for a few moment.

After a while I smiled. I sigh, good. I feel a lot calmer now.

**Skill learned: Serene meditation! Allows user to enter a serene state that helps user keep calm.**

Huh, it seems I got a new skill though it is at level one. I wonder how leveling up would effect it since it did not use mana or stamina. I was snapped back to reality when I saw a woman with shoulder length dark hair and dark skin with blue eyes appear wearing a white coat over a white uniform.

I recognizer her as the doctor who works in the medical shack which was located right in the middle of the housing area but due to Adam's stubborn personality and dislike for humans he never bothered to get to know her name. She also looked familiar not only from Adam's memories but I believe she looked like someone I saw in the RWBY series.

Whatever, probably not important. "May I ask how long I was out?" Looking at my health and fatigue, I could tell it was at least one hour and ten minutes.

"You were unconscious for two hours Adam." The woman responded. "You were fortunate one of your friends saw what was happening and got a senior overseer to intervene. Your friend, Greg, carried you here with the overseers permission but had to get back straight to the mines after he was done."

I nodded. I should really thank Greg for this. Honestly, that man is probably the closest person I can get to a bro. Speaking of which…

"Thank you for taking care of me miss…?"

The doctor raised her right eyebrow. "I have been treating you from the day you were born and you can't recall my name?" she asked. She didn't sound hurt but a bit teasingly.

I flushed. Technically, that was Adam's fault. Secondly, she has only been around for four years, not nine. I decided to ignore those facts since arguing about it is pointless. "Sorry about that." I responded sheepishly.

The woman chuckled, "Don't worry about that Adam. I know you have a lot going through your mind right now. You may call me Doctor Soleil." She introduced herself.

"Thank you, my name is Adam Taurus and I guess I don't have to tell you that you can call me Adam." I responded with a smile.

She smirks at me before her expression turned serious. She took a clipboard from somewhere (honestly, where did she get that?) and looked over it. "You took heavy injuries from your ordeal earlier and I tried to patch you up the best I can but without the proper tools and medicine I could only do so much." Dr. Soleil sigh in frustration, "I'm sorry to say but I don't think you should be mining for at least one week."

What!? No, that cannot happen, I still have work in those mines. If I don't do anything then my sister is screwed. "I don't think that is necessary. I feel much better now." I calmly responded. Huh, serene state must still be on.

Dr. Soleil gave me a dubious look. "Adam, I saw the wounds. I doubt you could of healed that fast even with aura." Ah crap, she's right. Even with aura, healing all those wounds would take two days at least. If I revealed that his wounds are closed then she would then question how it was possible. I want to keep my abilities a secret since if more people knew about this then they might use it for their own gain.

"I'll only take a break for today and tomorrow." I said resolutely, "After that, I will be going back but I'll take it easy." I studied the Dr. Soliel's reaction. She quietly looks me up and down before sighing. "Well, as a doctor I can only advice, not force, my patient and even if I did something tells me you will just sneak out anyway."

I looked away for a moment. Yup, I was definitely planning to do that. "Well, at least it is better than nothing." If Dr. Soleil wanted to say anything else she couldn't because one faunus suddenly screamed in pain. This cause her to frown. "Damn it, I'll have to treat him but there are some faunuses that need to be treated too. "

I thought for a moment about that. "Will first aid help with anything?" I asked.

The doctor looked at me. "Well, fist aid can help some of the faunus feel better and keep their wounds from getting worse too fast… "

"Then let me help." I offered. I learned a lot about giving medical attention due to being part of Red Crescent. I can still recall most of what I learned from joining the educational events they held.

**Due to recalling previous life skills you have obtain skill First Aid level 5!**

Okay, even though I was part of the Red Crescent I kind of dropped out after three years so sue me! Anyway, I hope level five is good enough.

"You sure you know how to do it?" Dr. Soleil asked with doubt in her eyes. Makes sense since a nine year old boy who lived his life in a Schnee Quarry isn't exactly the first person you would expect to have skills in first aid.

I nodded confidently. Apparently that wasn't enough since she watched me perform on one patient first before trusting me to do the others unsupervised as she had to go treat the screaming faunus.

**Intelligence increased by 1!**

**First Aid increased by 1!**

I was happy to see those stats go up. After I was done the Doctor thanked me for helping her. She asked if she could repay me in someway so I told her what I wanted.

**A few hours later**

I was reading one of the medicine books that the doctor had leant me. I had some difficulty understanding but thankfully she had books of her undergraduate years. I took up biology, chemical and physics but after graduating and entering College I decided to pursue a different career path and became an English lecturer.

Despite it being dark with very little lighting I was able to read with little problem due to a faunus ability to see in the dark. I continued reading until everyone was asleep. After that I snuck out and did the same daily quest to get those three stat points. And then place them all in stamina again.

I felt a bit stupid doing this but I felt like this will help me in the long run. Stamina was the hardest one to farm due to its nature of being that the stat can only obtain experience every time I get exhausted while I can literally farm experience for three stats and one skill from mining.

I sigh. I've been sighing a lot nowadays.

**A few days later**

Thank goodness they changed the overseer. Now my previous overseer was switched with the senior who had helped me and he seemed to be a lot nicer since he let's me take breaks. On top of that, after mining day is over I go and try to help Dr. Soleil.

After everyone sleeps I would then go out and due my daily quests and train my hand-to-hand combat skills and taekwondo. After a few days I also figured out something else about my system. When farming for DEX or INT I had taken notice that they level up at different speed when doing different jobs.

For example, mining helps level up DEX faster than INT but whenever I help Dr. Soleil my INT levels up faster than DEX. If I had to guess it maybe due to how the two jobs are different from each other. Mining requires more on the physical side so mining is more effected by DEX than INT but doing medical work relies mostly on one's knowledge rather than ones physical ability. Sure, there is a lot of standing and hand moving but it is not as strenuous as mining.

However, this means the best way to farm DEX is through mining, sprinting and training my combat ability while the best way to farm INT is through helping out at the medical shack and my nightly reading and my serene meditation, which I do three times a day. At the start of the day, before helping Doctor Soleil and before sleeping.

So basically my DEX is obviously higher than INT.

More good news is that I was able to satisfy the demands for this month, but only barely. But things are bad. They are claiming that the cost for Ana's treatment are more expensive than previously thought so now I have to mine enough dust to equal eight average miners.

I almost exploded but was able to keep calm thanks to Serene mind. I was in no position to argue. The Schnee had all the power here and so arguing will only make things worse on my end. All I can do is endure, survive and grow.

And, after Ana fully recovers, escape.

* * *

**RockyGolem: I plan to have Adam still able to fight like Adam but he will learn other fighting styles as well. As for the magic, we'll, you have to wait and see. **

**andohmygodcholestero: Thank you for the compliment but please don't expect to much.**

**Guest:Yeah, I thought about both of the systems and decided while Solo Leveling is cool the Gamer's version of the system is better.**

**Merendinoelimiano: I hope I spelt your username right. Anyway, for the Grimm, you'll have to wait and see.**

**Guest: Wait and see, or read the first response. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, the Gamer or Solo Leveling**

* * *

**I just remembered**

I was having a nice day all things considered. Currently, it was my second week in this world with my new power and body and I must say, things are getting better. With my daily quests I was able to raise my stamina up to 41, which is more than double what I started with at the beginning. With this, I barely needed to take breaks and raise my skills and stats more quickly.

I want to stop my focus on stamina and instead look at my other stats. None of the other stats has even touched 20 yet except for DEX.

**STR: 16**

**ENDR:15**

**AGI: 14**

**DEX: 20**

**INT: 17**

**WIS: 13**

**LUCK: 4**

**Stamina: 41**

My luck hasn't been raised even a bit, my DEX is exactly 20, STR has been raised quite a bit from mining, INT is my third highest stat due to my side job as an assistant for Dr. Soleil. ENDR has been raised due to all the damage I had to take and WIS has went from one of the three highest stats to the second lowest.

I shook my head. Well, no point regretting that. For now, I should start focusing on my other stats instead of only Stamina. But which one? Maybe I should focus on either LUCK or WIS. Those two stats are the next hardest stats to raise with one of them being my weakest. But then again, I could just continue focusing on Stamina.

Wait a minute, now that I think about it maybe Wisdom is the best since it will help me make a better choice later in the future. With my decision being made I smiled and continued on my exercise.

**Skill: Sprint has leveled up!**

I smirked and continued running for a few more minutes. After completing the daily quest, I placed two stat points in Wisdom and one in INT. Why? Because intelligence will help me see more details on my situation, allowing me to see more of the pros and cons in my choices.

Huh, at the beginning I did not want to place stats in Wisdom or intelligence but look at me now. I turned and ran back to the medical shack. I opened the door (they don't really have locks here) and walked quietly in. I went to the bed I woke up on. The bed is empty but I wasn't interested in what was on the bed. I got on my knees and searched under the bed to find a few books that Dr Soleil lent me.

Smiling, I picked two of them out and walked out quietly. I looked for a place where it would be difficult for the others to see me and started to read there. I figured that it would be better this way since then, I wouldn't have to worry about having to answer any question or cause some sort of misunderstanding.

The books I am reading about is related to my First Aid skill and medicine. By reading this I have been leveling up my First Aid skill. On top of that, my intelligence is also being increased by this little activity.

After two hours, I closed the book and leaned back on the wall. I thought back about my life here. It's been difficult but with the power of the Gamer, I was able to not only survive but also thrive. Instead of getting weaker with overwork or malnutrition I have been getting stronger and I am afraid that I am not the only one aware of this.

Greg is starting to notice that my breaks are becoming fewer and shorter and I think Dr Soleil is taking notice on my quick improvement on my skills. The overseer, my personal one, is starting to get suspicious enough that he actually strikes me with a whip once. When I asked why, he answered that it was because he felt like it.

I didn't believe him. This overseer is strict but fairer than most. He was the type that did things not because he felt like it, or wanted to do it. He only did things because it is his job. If I had to guess, he was suspecting that I had aura and that hit was to see if I did have it up or not.

I think he is still suspicious and that test just means he will hold of judgement for now. I grabbed my head with both hands and ruffled my hair. How did I get myself in this mess!? All I wanted was become a lecturer in some university. Maybe get a PhD too after getting some experience and money.

I recalled all my effort to become a lecturer, only to have that effort be for nothing.

Due to recalling skills of previous life you have unlocked Skill: Teaching (level 35)

… I feel like the system is now adding insult to injury now.

I stood up and decided to hit the hay. I have another long day tomorrow.

**The next day**

You know, with just one week of doing the same thing I have been getting really bored. No entertainment, no phones, no TV. And eating the same bland food over and over again? Wow, really getting the sense of excitement.

I decided to stop for a bit to rest up. My overseer was currently away for a bit to deal with some stuff that he saw no reason to fill me in with. Probably paperwork. While I sat in place, I studied my surroundings and watched how the other miners are doing.

I saw some of them making some mistakes here and there and their form could use a little work. I saw one of the closer miners raised his pickaxe to strike some of dust but instantly panicked when I saw where he was aiming.

I quickly activated Sprint and closed the distance between us and stopped him from hitting the dust by grabbing the handle with my left hand. The faunus looked at me in surprise though I wasn't sure it was because of how fast I suddenly appeared or the fact someone so small was able to stop his strike with one hand, or both.

"You shouldn't do that." I said, "Striking unrefined dust of this quality where the color is brightest will trigger it." I pointed at the dust. It a low-quality fire dust but if you look at it closely, you'll notice that there was a patch of it that glowed brighter than the rest.

The faunus looked at me before turning back to the dust. He then turned back to me and nodded slowly. I let go of the pickaxe and let him continue his work after advising him on how to hold his pickaxe so that he can mine a bit more efficiently.

I tried to ignore the stares some of the other miners, and overseers, were giving me. Apparently, my little show of speed and strength surprised them. I went back to the spot I was and sat down. A few minutes later I saw Greg approaching me.

"Hi Adam, so… how are you feeling?" Greg asked with narrowed eyes. He seemed to be studying me for something. I felt a bit uncomfortable at this. He seemed to be studying me intently. Maybe doing what I just did was not the brightest of moves.

"I am feeling fine." I answered. Serene mind is really helpful right now. "How about you? You doing okay?" I asked back. I didn't want to. I wanted to end this conversation fast before I say something that would make Greg more suspicious but my response was automatic.

"I'm fine." Greg answered quickly, "Hey Adam, mind closing your right eye?" Confused, I did what he asked. "Good, now how many fingers am I holding up?" he asked.

Huh? "You're not holding up any fingers." I answered, still confused with why he would ask that.

Greg's mouth fell open as he stares at me with wide eyes. "Adam… are you SURE you don't feel anything wrong?" he asked again, with an emphasis on sure. He seemed to be surprised with my answer as though he wasn't expecting that respond.

"I'm sure. Why…" My eyes widen. I just saw something with my left eye. The same eye Adam lost when the SDC branded him. The eye that couldn't heal even with aura when given a few years. And the power of the gamer just healed it in a week. Maybe even less.

It seems Greg caught on to own shock as well. "So, you didn't even notice huh?" Greg muttered, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Adam, I'm going to ask you straight, do you have aura unlocked?"

I shook my head quickly, "No, I don't. If I did, I'd probably try to bust out right now." I answered. Besides, aura couldn't heal this wound. Only the power of the Gamer allowed this. Oh great, now I have to worry about the SDC brand going missing. According to Solo Leveling, the skill longevity will also cause scars to fade away.

While the return of my eyes function was subtle the disappearance of the brand will be a lot more noticeable. So much for keeping the Gamer ability a secret. People are already taking notice of my physical and, in Dr Soleil's case, mental improvement.

"Hmph, no you wouldn't." I heard Greg responded, "After all, how will you sister get her treatment?" I blinked and looked at Greg. He was right. Even if I did have aura, busting out would mean no treatment for Ana.

Greg gave me a smirk, "So, are you telling me the truth? That you don't have aura." Greg asked again. He seemed adamant about this.

I look at him straight in the eye and answered honestly, "No, I do not have aura." We studied each other for a few moments before Greg shrugged.

"Okay then, so you have no aura." Greg finally responded to my answer, "But that doesn't answer how your eye healed." Greg said with a curious look.

I sigh, "I have my suspicion but I'd like to keep it to myself for now if it's okay." I said. Not the truth but not a complete lie. Oh wait, it is a lie since I know exactly why. Oh well, no point correcting myself.

Greg looked a bit hurt but eventually nodded. "Okay, I understand that we all have our secrets." Greg said. "But you'd better be careful cause if anyone else finds out about this…" Greg trailed off but I got the message.

I gave him a nod. He gave me a wary smirk before leaving me. Once he was gone, I frowned. I have to figure out a way to hide my recovery. Maybe I should go ahead and ask Dr Soleil if I can have some bandages to cover my left eye.

I looked around and saw some of the other miners struggling a bit. Maybe I should go ahead and put my Teaching skill to good use while I still have time.

**A few hours later**

I walked towards the medical shack. I really needed those bandages to cover my face before the brand disappears. When I entered the shack the first thing I saw was not what I expected.

"You damn humans are the problem!" a faunus shouted before hitting Dr Soleil. "You're keeping some of the better stuff for yourself even when you're not the one getting injured from all the work in the mines!"

"Please! I am trying my best sir. There are no better equipment. All the equipment I use to take care of you are the best I can offer!" Dr Soleil pleaded in order to calm the faunus. Now that I look at the faunus, he seemed to be feline with black ears on his head and yellow silted eyes. Maybe he is a panther.

Well, whatever he is, the respond Dr Soleil gave apparently enraged him further. "Liar!" he pulls back his fist in an attempt to strike Dr Soleil one more time. Dr Soleil saw this and her eyes widen.

Not wanting to see the good doctor harmed I sprinted towards the faunus and tackled him to the ground before he could throw his punch. He was surprised, but upon seeing who it was he scowled.

"Well look at this, the kid with aura." The faunus spitted out before backhanding my face. The strike didn't cause so much damage due to my endurance but it was strong enough to knock me of him due to my small size.

He quickly stands up and glares at me. "You keep that ability to yourself, not sharing it with anyone else." My eyes narrowed at this. So, there are rumors of me having aura spreading about me having aura already? That was quick.

"I don't have aura," I responded calmly, placing myself between the faunus and Dr Soleil "And Dr Soleil is telling the truth. As her unofficial assistant, I can attest that she is telling the truth so please keep calm." I could tell that Dr Soleil raised an eyebrow at the unofficial assistant even without turning to her. What else should I call myself? Helping hand? That sounded less cool and the way I worded it made is sound more… formal.

The faunus scoffed, "Yeah, like I'll believe the words of some kid." The faunus said, "It's obvious you're just covering things up. Don't think the rest of us haven't notice how fast you heal and recover or how your roommates don't notice you coming back late to the shack." My eyes narrowed.

So, the others are getting suspicious and if rumors keep circulating like this then how long will it take before some higher up hears about this and decides to take action? I've got to figure these things out.

"Let me guess, in exchange of helping her you get the good stuff as long as you keep quiet? Is that right?" The faunus went on. "Tch, I can't believe a kid like you can be a race traitor." My fist clenched a bit at that before relaxing.

Serene mind is helping me keep calm and avoid getting too emotional but that quip caused me to faulter a bit. I took a deep breath and let it out. "Sir, just keep calm. You are not helping anyone right now."

The faunus grits his teeth, "Stay calm!? How about besides telling me to stay calm you should just start giving the rest of us the better care that you two are hording for yourself then we can see about me staying calm!"

"There are no better equipment and medicine!" Dr Soleil insisted behind me. "I am doing my best here with the equipment they provided." Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because the faunus snarled and charged at me.

My eyes narrowed at his action before being surprised by an alert.

**Emergency Quest!**

**Defeat Gustav and protect Dr Soleil!**

**Rewards:**

**-200 exp**

**-Mystery box**

**-5 stat points**

I quickly closed the alert in order to dodge the faunus, now named Gustav, charge. I stick my foot out as he passes, causing him to trip. He gets up and glares at me as I enter a fighting stance. Gustav tries to attack me again with a punch but I was able to dodge the attack.

To be honest, the rewards were too good for this. I frowned at Gustav. His movements were easy to read and slower than it should be. He just got back from the mines so that made sense. On top of that Gustav only has stale bread and water for breakfast, lunch and diner so he is definitely hungry.

I don't suffer the same problems due to my Gamer powers. I did not need to eat much or drink much. My body continuously develops whether or not provided the necessary nourishment or not. And Longevity made it so that I only needed to sleep less than two hours a day to recover, not six to eight hours.

Gustav tries again but I dodge it easily and strike him with a jab at the ribs. He grunted a bit and tries to kick me with his left foot but I sidestep the attack and grabbed his leg. He tries pull it back but I pulled him forward instead, causing him to end up stand with his legs far apart.

With sprint active, I rushed to his torso and grabbed his shoulders. Pulling myself up quickly while also jumping I was able to introduce my right knee to his chin. What? You thought I was going to kick him in the nuts? I am not stooping that low right now. All the miners here are already in a pitiful state.

If anything, I am saving it for Jacques.

Gustav fell back on his back. I stopped attacking him and looked at him. "Please Mr. Gustav, calm down. I do not want to hurt you anymore." Gustav looked at me with his hateful eyes before looking down.

"Fine, you got me Taurus." Gustav relented. I smiled and turned back towards Dr Soleil to see if she was alright. Then it hit me. If Gustav relented then why am I not getting the quest complete notification?

My eyes widen and I turned back quickly to Gustav.

It then hit me more literally. Gustav had quickly stood up and grabbed a stool that he then swung at me with a roar. I brought my arm up to defend but the attack still hurt and I fell to my side. "You think you're better than us you little sh*t!"

He grabbed fistful of my hair before lifting my head up. "Just because you have aura doesn't mean you can look down on us!" He then slams my head on the floor. He tries to do it again but I quickly force myself to my knee as he pulls my head up.

Grabbing his wrist and his arm, I forced myself to my knees and twisted his arm with my strength. This caused the man to let go with a cry of pain. I quickly got up and kicked his legs with a kick at the left knee, causing it to bend slightly. I then leap up and delivered a right hook at his face.

Gustav fell on his back, again. "Now will you surrender?" I asked again.

Gustav glares at me before nodding slowly. I stared at him for a while. After ten seconds and the system doesn't tell me my quest is complete, I frowned at him. "You're going to attack me again aren't you?"

Gustav blinked a few times before shaking his head. I frowned. "Dr Soleil, please call the guards and tell them what happened." This causes Gustav's eyes to widen in fear.

"Please don't! I'll go okay!? I won't cause anymore problems, I swear!" Gustav pleaded.

**Quest completed!**

**Defeat Gustav and protect Dr Soleil!**

**Bonus rewards for ensuring no damage dealt to the Dr from start to end of quest:**

**Reward #1: 50 exp**

**Reward #2: Mystery box**

**Reward #3: 2 stats point**

"Reward number three accepted." I said before turning back to Gustav, "Alright sir, as you have no business here, I kindly ask for you to leave." Gustav nods before rushing out the shack.

I sigh. While I managed to deal with this situation, I also learned that my abilities are being noticed and my fellow miners are looking at this in a negative light. Their paranoia will do them good but right now it is a pain in the as* for me.

I turned back towards Dr Soleil who had been watching us the whole time. "Are you alright Dr?" I asked.

Dr Soleil nods slowly, looking a bit guilty. Perhaps it was because she didn't do anything to help? Well, it didn't matter. "I see, that's good." I responded. I tried to move my arms but winced a bit at the pain.

While not broken, the arm I used to defend myself from that stool is definitely bruised. I looked at my right arm. Yup, definitely bruised. "You don't have aura." Dr Soleil said. "If you did, you wouldn't have taken any damage and even if you did, that wound would start healing by now." She explained when I gave her a confused look.

"So, you thought I had aura too?" I asked. Did the rumors reach her too?

Dr Soleil nods, "Of course since even I noticed your recovery rate is faster than most and your brand has been slowly fading." Dr Soleil pointed out. I instinctively reach out and touch the brand. So, my suspicion is true. My ability will eventually cause the brand to disappear.

That reminds me. "Dr Soleil, could you give me some bandages?" Dr Soleil gave me a worried look.

"Why? Were you injured somewhere?" Dr Soleil asked as she starts to circle me while looking up and down, trying to find any injuries she might have missed.

I opened my mouth to respond but shut it when I noticed the patients in bed were watching and listening. "It's a secret. But I really want some bandages." There, make it sound like Dr Soleil is outside the loop of whatever I am doing and making sure most of the focus is on me and not anyone else.

I don't want Dr Soleil and Greg getting harmed because of me.

Dr Soleil frowns a bit before nodding. She went to one of the drawers and gave me a roll of bandages. I took the roll and ripped out what I estimate to be enough before giving the rest of it back.

"Thank you, Dr Soleil. I really appreciate this." I thanked her before leaving. I need to put on some of this quickly.

**Different POV**

Adam has definitely changed. I frowned as I watch him leave the area. Someone like him shouldn't be here. A boy that young with the pressure of taking care of a sister he can't even see and risking his life in the mines.

I shook my head. I went to the personal area in the shack which had a bed for myself. This is the closest thing to a bedroom with a door that separated the area from the rest of the shack. I took out my scroll from my pocket and opened it.

In the scroll there was a recording of Adam fighting that faunus to protect me. I quickly sent the video to husband. Minutes later I received a call.

"So that's him huh?" Roy asked. He is a man with brown eyes and black hair that was cut at the sides but the top part was left alone. "Kid has skills, no aura yet strong enough to take on a full-grown man and still polite after taking a hit like that."

"Can you help him?" I asked. I really don't want to see a boy like him rot away in a place like this. She had known Adam from before his parents died and his sister had that accident. He used to be a nice boy, if a bit distant and cold but after his parents dies, he became pressured, trying to make sure both his sister and himself survived day-to-day on his own.

After his sister's accident he became even more driven. He would go as far as skip his meals in order to mine more regardless how dangerous it and how many times he collapsed. Now, he is a lot nicer but I couldn't help but wonder if it is an attempt to deal with the pressure that is undoubtedly crushing him? By busying himself so that he wouldn't have time to think of the pressure and just focus on the task.

If this kept up, Adam might just break. And I didn't want to see that.

After a few moments of silence Roy spoke up. "I can't do anything but maybe the General can." Roy said, "He holds two seats in the council and he is always looking for talented fighters."

I winced, "Is that really the best?" That sounded dangerous. When it came down to it, Hunters have more dangerous jobs than miners. It felt like taking Adam out of the frying pan and throwing him into hell.

"Well," Roy said, "It's up to Adam. But I can guarantee he will be provided with better food, shelter and clothing. Also pay is better and he gets his freedom too."

Freedom. That's a word that's not many can say those in Adam's situation has ever tasted. Unlike most miners, or slaves, Adam was born in the mines. Due to the contract it is stated anything produced and gained by the miners in the mines are to be handed to SDC.

By right, this was supposed to only mean dust that the miners mine. At least that was what everyone who signed the contract thought. But when Adam was born here, he was considered produced in the mines. He is a production of two miners and the SDC, since they provided the food that nourishes the unborn child.

Basically, Adam and Ana, as well as a few other Faunus's, are SDC property. They are not even considered people. If the SDC did something against the contract then miners can take this to court since they still have right. Faunuses like Adam had no rights.

That is why not many know that SDC brands the Faunus's. Only those in Adam's position are supposed to be branded. 'Supposed' because some other Faunuses also gets branded as a form of punishment, like Greg.

"I'll try to see if there is anything I can do about Ana as well," Roy continued, "But I can't make any promises." I nodded. I expected much.

"So, with that out of the way…" I started, "How is our little girl?"

Roy smiled "Ciel is doing fine. Honestly, she has been improving a lot in her studies. Probably the smartest little girl I've seen." He then frowns "Though she has also been looking up basic martial arts videos too."

"Hmm, what's wrong with that?" I asked. As long as it wasn't too violent then I don't see the problem.

"It's not a problem on its own but I caught her trying to replicate the moves, exercise a lot and she would sometimes stare intently at nothing in particular. On top of that I also hear her saying that same word time and time again like its supposed to mean something." Roy went on.

"What word?" I asked.

"She likes saying the word 'status' a lot."

* * *

**Okay so here is the third chapter. I hope this answers how long Adam has been in the mines. Also, this is where things start to go differently. At this time, Ana should already be dead but isn't. Adam is nice and polite and was able to take on a full-grown adult without aura which was recorded. Remember, this feat is better when, as far as they know, he has not receive any proper training and they don't know about his powers**

**Also, I suppose from the ending you can tell there is something about to happen.**

**Alright, reviews:**

**Dylan-A-Friend: Thanks for the review.**

**Guess: *Read his review at Adam going to be weak because of fatigue then looks at Solo Leveling* Are you sure about that? **

**Andohmygodcholesterol: Mage route Adam? I thought about it and I have to say that while he will use magic it will be related to his job. Spoiler: his job isn't going to be mage, warrior, samurai, magic swordsman, assassin or Necromancer.**

**Renokana: since he was born.**

**Kirston: Thanks for the review. I have to admit I am no good writer but I'd like to think I am improving little by little. Your recommendation is noted and I might implement it in a way you might not expect.**

**Good bye for now and have a nice day and please feel free to live a review. **


	4. Chapter 4

**I'll admit that this chapter isn't as well made as I wanted but I couldn't figure out how I could make it better and its not like I can get someone to read this before posting it. So yeah, I'm a bit disappointed with this but this is the best I can manage for today.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any franchises** here.

* * *

**Growth**

This is not planed at all. That was what I thought when I looked at my status screen. After I finished bandaging myself, I opened my status screen. Right now, I have twelve stats points. Five from leveling up, five from the quest and two more as the bonus reward. I regretted choosing the two stats points instead of the 50 exp since I only needed 50 exp more to level up to level 3 then I could of have fifteen stat points instead of twelve.

Well, no point crying over spilled milk. I opened my status screen and studied my stats. Huh, that's strange.

**STR: 17**

**ENDR: 16**

**AGI: 15**

**DEX: 21**

**INT: 19**

**WIS: 16**

**LUCK: 5**

**Stamina: 42**

I feel like something is off about my stats. Probably nothing but I can't shake the feeling something is different here. I shrug it off and focus on what to increase. First of I want to test something out. If I am not mistaken if I do this…

**Skill: Energy affinity has been created as Stamina has reached 50!**

I grinned. When I increased my intelligence and wisdom my memory improved and I recalled that when the Gamer raises one of his stats to 50 a new skill will be created. I look up the description of the skill.

**A skill to help become more skilled and efficient to handle your Stamina**

**-Fatigue decreases 10% faster**

**-Fatigue increases 5% slower**

**-Physical attacks increase by 5%**

**-Physical endurance increases by 5%**

**-Speed increases by 5%**

**-Training that increases fatigue bar has their effects increase by 30%**

Hmm, isn't this similar to mana affinity but instead being magic related it seemed to act as the physical counter part of said skill. Nodding with satisfaction I then place the rest of the four stat points in AGI.

The reason why is because AGI increase all forms of physical speed. Movement speed, dodging speed, reflex and striking speed. This way I can mine faster by striking faster. Besides, I want to also make myself be as close to Adam as I am willing to go and I am pretty sure his fighting style focuses more on speed.

With that thought I got up and exited the dark corner I was hiding in. I decided not to help Dr Soleil today after that fiasco. I will go back to helping her the day after but for now…

"Quest." I commanded the quest screen to come out and I saw the same two quests. Ignoring the other one I accepted the same quest, my daily exercise.

With the quest accepted I began doing a few stretches before beginning my push-ups. After the push-ups, I began doing the other forms of workout as well. I held of sprinting for now. I don't need people seeing me running around at top speed. I'll have to wait until late night when everyone is asleep.

With that thought I decided to go ahead and head back to my shack to go to sleep. Sleep early and wake up before anyone else and then start sprinting. After that, my quest will be complete and three stat points for me. I can also deal with those rumors since one of the reasons the miners are getting suspicious is due to the fact I keep coming back late.

**A few minutes later**

Yeah, things didn't go exactly as plan. I only had a few minutes of sleep before an alert woke me up.

**Skill: Detect bloodlust learned!**

**You detect bloodlust!**

I woke up, saw the notification, then saw the faunus standing over me, holding a pillow over my head.

Not how I wanted to wake up. I shot up to my feet, surprising my assailant due to the sudden movement. This bought me time to make a break to the door. Before leaving I turned to have a better look at my assailant.

He wore rags like the rest of us and had dark hair and blue eyes but his claws would suggest another feline faunus. I felt a bit odd that the two times I've been attacked are by feline faunus considering Adam and Blake. The faunus looked at me and seemed a bit hesitant before taking a deep breath. He threw away the pillow and rushes towards me.

I glance at the other Faunuses there and found them still sleeping. They were probably exhausted by their day in the mines. I rushed out the door and went to a more open space before confronting the Faunus. I avoided using my skill sprint to make sure I didn't lose him.

Once I found a place that was suitable, I stopped and turned around. The Faunus following me stopped too and studied me intently. "So, why did you want to kill me?" I asked.

The faunus blinked a few times before answering, "Sorry kid, nothing personal but someone that can make my life easier or harder gave me an offer and if I refuse..." The faunus trailed off but I got the message.

"I see, but you don't have to do this." I tried to reason with him, "If you can report to another overseer then perhaps, they can do something about this." I didn't want to fight another faunus, especially one who also seemed against the idea.

"Sorry but I doubt those humans would even listen to what we have to say." The faunus replied with a scoff, "They either want us to suffer or don't care about us to do anything and you expect them to listen to us when we accuse one of them?"

"Ah, so an overseer is the one who told you to do this." I said. This caused the faunus to go stiff. Apparently, I wasn't supposed to know that. Oops.

"Now I can't let you go kid." The faunus said, "Sorry." With that he rushes towards me. I brought up my guard and got an emergency quest alert but I ignored that. He tries to take a jab at me but I easily side step the attack and stepped into his guard, my fist pulled back.

Once I got close, I punched him in the gut, causing him to double over before upper-cutting him. The man staggered but recovered faster than I anticipated. He kicked me at the side. I tried to block it but the blow was stronger than what I thought he could muster.

The force caused me to stagger to the side a bit. Capitalizing on that moment of weakness, the faunus delivered a punch right at my face. I was unable to guard the attack and was staggering back. I tried my best to keep myself from falling and instead activated sprint and backpaddled away.

The faunus was surprised by how fast I moved but his expression turned grim before launching himself at me again. He tries another kick but I raised my arm and was able to block it and keep my feet planted but I grit my teeth in pain.

This guy really packs a punch! I counter-attacked his kick with my own, sweeping his foot off the ground before he can plant his other foot down. He fell on his back and I then tried to take advantage of my down opponent but he took some dirt and threw it into my eyes.

Momentarily blinded, I leaped back to make some room while rubbing the dirt out of my eyes. By the time I was done, the faunus had recovered.

Okay, this guy is definitely better than Gustav but why? I turned to the notification screen that had appeared after Gustav punched me in the face and I blenched.

Frank has toggled on his aura!

"You have aura?" I asked in shock. This man has aura! How and when did he awaken his aura!?

Frank shrug, "When I told the guy about the rumor of you having aura, he actually had mine unlocked." Okay what? Who in their right mind would unlock the aura of what is basically a slave? Wouldn't that possibly cause a prison raid if the guy went around unlocking aura of the others? "Too bad he knocked me out before unlocking it so I have no idea how to unlock other people aura." Okay so the guy isn't completely stupid. One or two prisoners with aura aren't that big of a threat against the overseers who all have aura and training to back them up.

Damn it, my gamer ability is actually working against me this time. I only had one thing left to do. I turned and activated sprint. "Hey!" Frank cried out before giving pursuit. I didn't stop, instead, I activated sprint and began running even faster.

Fighting against an aura enhanced individual, even in his condition, will not end well unless I could figure something out. After putting as much distance as possible between myself and Frank I quickly turned around and thrust my palm towards him and focused.

I know the Gamer gained access to this skill through focusing his energy like this. I focused on a spot right below my belly button where the chi centre should be. I imagined the energy flowing from there through path, called chi vein, and into my palm.

**A new skill has been created through specific action!**

**Mana manipulation (level 1): The ability to manipulate mana within your body. The higher the level the easier it becomes for you to manipulate mana and become more efficient in your mana usage.**

I stopped when I saw the notification and glanced around. I realised that if I used mana attacks here then someone will see it and it will confirm that I have aura for those who doesn't know better. But my only shot at beating this guy as I am now is by pulling out all the stops.

I suddenly had a thought but before I can even try to figure out how I can possibly pull it of Frank was able to cover the distance and threw another punch at me. I ducked under it and gathered mana into my fist and strike Frank.

I willed the mana to flow from my fist into Frank's aura and then into his body. With my fist still connected I then willed the mana… to explode. Don't get me wrong. It may sound like something gory is about to happen but not really.

The mana basically went in and aggressively expanded before fading away. This was a subtle, but effective method to strike at an enemy without having to worry about their defence. And I'll admit… I got this idea from several fanfictions I read online but I can't recall them right now.

Frank staggered back at the attack. One weakness I found about the technique is that I have to maintain contact throughout the process. If Frank reacted faster than he would have avoided taking any damage.

**Skill has been created through specific action! Mana Strike (level 1)**

Okay, looking at my health bar I can see that I now have an MP bar of… 270!? Wasn't it supposed to be 10 MP for one INT? Why did I have 270 when it should be 190 instead? I shook my head and look at the MP bar and found that it lost 10 MP. Meaning one attack costs 10 MP.

I'll try figuring out why I have 270 MP later.

I sprinted forward to close the distance between me and Frank. The man tries to swing his fist at me but I managed to duck under it and circled around to get behind him. He quickly turns around but I already threw another mana strike at his side.

The man grunts in pain but tries to kick me. I raised my arm and focused my mana to encase it, causing my mana to surround it like a second layer of skin. The kick connected and the force almost caused me to stagger but the damage was greatly reduced.

I stepped forward and gave a right hook to his stomach, ignoring the message that appeared. Frank stood his ground and raised both his fist and brought them down. Seeing this I raised one arm and encased it with mana to block the overhead strike.

I then thrust my palm forward and placed it on his stomach. If I pushed the mana out my palm rather than my knuckles then the amount would be greater which would allow me to do more direct damage at once!

With that line of thought I pushed the mana out and my eyes widen. Damn it! The mana is all too spread out! If it was through my knuckles it was more focused but now? Scowling, I was about to break off before feeling something.

His aura, my mana was still flowing into it but it felt like it was flowing in through… cracks? Confused by this thought I was unable to prevent the punch to my gut and an introduction of a fist to my cheek.

I stumbled back but recovered in time to dodge a hasty uppercut. Seeing the opportunity, I countered with another punch along with a mana strike. Mana strike chips away his HP while my punches chip away his aura.

But now with that failed attack and two successful ones my MP is decreased to 240. That means that failure cost me as much as the successful ones! I saw another message appear before me.

**Through the use of a specific action a new skill has been unlocked! Mana scan (level 1)**

**Mana scan: By allowing your mana to enter an object and flow through it you can tell the objects property. Current level lets you see cracks, chinks and holes in an object.**

Okay this ability reminds me of something but whatever. What I'd like to know is why this guy has cracks in his aura and how can I use it to my advantage? Isn't aura supposed to be a reflection of one's soul? How can a reflection of the soul be cracked?

Wait a minute…

"You really don't want to do this do you?" I asked. Frank avoided my gaze at this. I nodded. No wonder, as the aura is a reflection of one's soul the cracks in it represents one's doubts, hesitation, fear, etc. "So why fight?" I asked.

"Well, what other choice do I have?" Frank asked back, "I have nothing but my life and even that is partially owned by the SDC. I gave up my freedom in hope to live a better life but what I got is hell on earth instead. I'm pretty sure beggars live better than us right now. I know I did before the SDC approached me. I may not have a proper shelter on the streets but I did have some dignity and freedom, both taken away from me. I don't want what little life I have left taken too."

Survival. Frank had given up his freedom and dignity in hope to live a better life and regretted it but by the time he realised this it was already too late. Now he believes that he already went too far down this path and can no longer turn back.

I clenched my fist. This is the world I live in now. I feel bad for Frank but I too wished to survive right now. So, with heavy heart, I moved forward. I ducked down to grab some dirt and threw it into Franks eyes. The man instinctively closed his eyes.

I bought myself some time. Focusing my mana gathered everything into my right arm and encased it in mana. I made it as dense and hard as possible and thankfully, it was still mostly invisible. I then punched Frank at the side of his chin.

Thanks to my studies about the human body I managed to learn that the best way to knock someone out was by punching them at the side of the chin, where the jaw is attached to the skull. This is because a blow like this causes a trauma to the brain that knocks the one getting hit unconscious. To be honest not much force is needed to pull this off but because Frank had aura, I decided not to risk it.

Frank's head spins a bit before he fell flat on his back.

With that, I received a notification. And who thought learning biology and medicine couldn't be applied in combat? The fight would have probably dragged out a lot more if I didn't know this.

**Emergency Quest: Defeat Frank! Completed.**

**Rewards:**

**-5 stat points**

**-400 exp**

**-Bronze Mystery box**

**You levelled up!**

**You levelled up!**

Huh, I levelled up twice and with five stats points that means I got 27 stats points in one day. That was more than what I got in a week! I sigh, before I look through my rewards, I should probably take Frank to the medical shack instead of leaving him here.

**A few minutes later**

I finished my sprint and claimed another three stat points. I also decided to open the normal mystery box I got from beating Gustav. The reward… was a key. When I looked at the description, it said to be used at the entrance of the housing area.

I had a pretty good guess on what it is for but decided to hold off for now. I placed it in my inventory. I then checked my bronze mystery box. It took the form of a box that was small enough to fit my palm. Making sure no one could see me I selected to open the box.

The box faded into particles of light and reformed into… a dagger.

It looked like a normal dagger and its stats weren't that impressive, increasing my attack power by ten but it is better than nothing. I put that into my inventory as well. With that out of the way I sat down crossed legged and activated serene meditation. Still in that pose, I also tried out my mana manipulation skill.

I didn't do anything with it though. I just manipulated it to flow through my body. I discovered that as long as I don't release it in any form the skill wouldn't cost MP. Hmm, both skills didn't cost MP nor did it fill up my fatigue bar. Serene meditation can be triggered automatically as long as I am in this pose so I didn't need to focus on that while Mana Manipulation required me to consciously focus on manipulating my mana to make sure that none of it leaked out while I am controlling it. If the mana leaked out then my MP bar will decrease.

After what felt like an hour I decided to stop and actually look at the screen. Through the continuous use of mana manipulation and Serene meditation the two skills had levelled up to level 3 and 5 respectively. My INT hasn't levelled up but that was to be expected since it was quite high.

Opening my stats, I looked through my stats to see what to invest my points in before blinking at the stat screen.

**STR: 19**

**AGI: 21**

**ENDR: 18**

**DEX: 23**

**INT: 21**

**WIS: 18**

**LUCK: 7**

**Stamina: 52**

Okay, I am pretty sure my stats weren't that high yet. Maybe it is due to the increase in intelligence but I can tell the stats had increased by two since the last time I opened it and I haven't even put any of the points in yet!

My eyes widen in realisation and I checked back my passive skills. I reread their description and I found what I was looking for.

**Growth: The ability to get stronger through increasing level and stats.**

Such a tiny detail that is easily overlooked. This means that my stats improve automatically without needing to invest stat points through levelling up alone! It seems each time I level up all my stats increase by 1.

Grinning, I looked over my stats again. Hmm, from what I can understand I should place more points in AGI since that will help improve all forms of speed but at the same time with my newly acquired mana ability, I feel like increasing intelligence would also be a good idea.

I place 8 points in AGI and 7 in INT. That should be good enough. I look up and notice that the sun hasn't risen yet. I still have some time. I looked around and saw a rock. Nodding, I decided to go and pick it up.

I held it in the palm of my hand and focused my mana into it. Using mana scan, I was able to detect a few cracks here and there. Testing it out, I gently pushed more mana into those cracks before manipulating the mana to start pushing and expanding the cracks slowly.

Eventually, instead of exploding, the rock crumbled into smaller pieces.

Interesting, the mana consumption wasn't that bad. I got an alert.

New skill has been unlocked due to specific action!

**Skill: Deconstruction (level 1): The ability to break things down to smaller pieces of itself. At current level you can break objects to pieces by finding and exploiting weaknesses in their structure. The bigger and tougher the object the more mana needed.**

Huh, I'm sure that will one day be a useful skill. I decided that I should try practicing by combining my mana manipulation and my hand-to-hand combat related abilities together in order to level both skills up.

After all, I really want to go into that dungeon.

**A few hours later**

Back to mining. At this point I just activated my mining skill and let my mind wander. I'm trying to figure out why I had more mana than my stats should have suggested before I recall something. Adam and I had our souls fused and Adam started with 8 INT when I got here so that means that it is possible my mana pool merged with his at the time.

This supports the theory that my soul fused with Adam instead of me killing him and taking his place. Secondly, mana. I've been thinking about this ever since I got into the mines. I unlocked the ability to use mana but it is obvious that mana and aura are different when I fought Frank.

On top of that I recalled that aura isn't something unique to humans since animal can also have their aura unlocked. As long as you have a soul you have aura but mana is different from aura even though everything has mana as long as it lives like aura and yet only humans can use mana, and to that extent, magic.

Now that I think about it, do animals have semblances? I don't think I ever heard of animals having semblances and yet humans do. Why is that… wait. I had a theory about this in my previous life but humans aren't the only who could use magic once upon a time right? I remembered that they're was that sea grim that could shoot out lasers from its mouth and I recall hearing about grims that have the power to effect emotions. Didn't that sound magical? They were created by the God of Darkness who was also the one who gifted humans magic.

My eyes widen. And that's the difference. Animals were created by the God of light thus they had aura, Grims were created by the God of Darkness granting them the ability to use supernatural powers (at least some of them) but then again, the ability to live without a soul should already be considered supernatural. And humans are created from both. Is it possible that when a human's aura is unlocked the aura came from the light while the semblance came from the darkness?

Ugh! That's not important right now. What I want to figure out is the deal with my mana manipulation. I doubt I could have pulled it off without my Gamer ability and remembering the lessons the Gamer had. I haven't tried creating an instant dungeon but I am pretty sure it wouldn't work. The only reason why it was so simple for the Gamer was because Gaia also wants people to enter a protected space thus it will actively help people create and enter protected space. Remnant doesn't have Gaia as far as I know.

Anyway, mana seems to be something inside me that I have to pull out and to keep it out I have to concentrate and if my concentration falters then the mana will dissipate but my experience against Frank showed that aura is different as all you need is to focus and it will just surround your body automatically and from there you don't have to pay much attention to it. Another thing is that you just need to focus the aura to stay on and you can just move normally and the aura will move along with you without you having to will it to do so.

Again, this is different. I surrounded my entire arm, from wrist to shoulder, and when I tried to bend it the mana wouldn't just move with you. Basically, aura is closer to acting as a second skin when switched on and mana acts more like armour if you use it defensively. Another thing is that aura can only be used by living things, or things with a soul. If my theory is correct then Grims can use mana as well even though they lack a soul. This isn't as uncommon as one would think since there is such things like enchanted weapons that can use magic by storing mana and spell in themselves and can be used independently from the user's mana.

Well, at least that is how it is in games and shows I watched so I'll just think of Grims like this, magic golems. Golems that are brought to life through magic and can use it themselves but lack a true soul.

So, I can distinguish both mana and aura like this but there is one more difference. Soul. Aura is obviously affected by the soul from the colour, amount and semblance. Mana, not so much. Mana isn't like that. Regardless of who you are, how your soul is and how evil or good the mana you generate from your body by simply living will be the same as the trees, the animals and even the person next to you. The only thing that changes is the amount or rate you generate it. Variables that effect your aura doesn't necessarily apply to mana.

**Intelligence increased by 1!**

**Intelligence increased by 1!**

Okay then, I already know how I can differentiate mana from aura… despite there not being much point to it! Sigh, at least my INT increased. While I mined, I slipped some dust into my inventory. I decided that I should try to collect as much dust as possible while mining. Even though they are yet to be refined I am hoping that with my gamer abilities I will be able to use them.

Experimentation with dust seemed like an interesting idea. I was tempted to use mana scan on the dust but held off. Doing that here may draw unwanted attention in the case it suddenly explodes or something.

With that thought I continued mining while secretly collecting dust and putting them in my inventory.

**A few hours later**

"And so, you should try to make sure you have a firm grasp here and here." I said. The miner followed my instruction and began striking again. With a nod I began to walk away. Mining has been getting surprisingly easier. With my mining now at level 35 I can now start mining mid quality dust with almost no incident.

Grinning, I went back to mining. The overseer jotted down a few things on a notepad. I wonder what those are for. I continued mining but I was also activating my mana manipulation. It is one of the only skills I can practice right now without drawing attention.

I also used mana scan my pickaxe as well as other pickaxes too when I help give advices to others. I also learned a new skill.

**Mana reinforcement (level 1): The ability to fill in cracks and holes with mana to strengthen an objects durability**.

The ability to tell an objects property, the ability to strengthened an object and now all I need is an ability to recreate weapons I've laid my eyes on and I can start calling myself an aspiring hero of justice. I mean, I have the red hair too now.

With that thought I smirked while I continued my mining and mana training.

Not long after I notice Greg approaching me. I Decided to ask my overseer for a break. In all honesty, I'm pretty sure I mined enough for today, even when you take into account that I kept some of the dust for myself what I just gave to the SDC was basically equal to seven average miners.

The overseer nods a bit. "Alright Taurus, you have twenty minutes. You can rest while I'm gone but we will get back to work after I get back." The overseer turned and left me alone.

I turned back towards Greg, who was now standing in front me. "Hello Greg, how are you doing?" I greeted. Start simple I suppose considering that with our position as miners Greg wouldn't come up to me now unless he thinks it is important.

Greg smiled, "I've been doing fine but it's you who I am worried about." Greg answered. I raised my one eyebrow, which wasn't covered by bandages. "Rumours are spreading Adam." Greg explained, "Some people saw what happened last night and they are saying that you just bit someone who had aura with your bare hands and that is definitely causing a stir. They are making a lot of assumptions. The more dangerous ones are saying that you unlocked that Faunus's aura and he tried to kill you to secure his position as the top of the food chain among us miners or he wanted to unlock everyone else's aura and you stopped him by knocking him out. And with Frank unconscious there is no one else who can reliably deny or confirm these claims and since you're being painted the villain in this situation whatever you say will be taken with a lot of salt."

"That's stupid." I said, "But, unsurprising. I don't have aura but they think I do because I am… different and now the suspect that I can unlock someone else's aura too. I assume that they will confront me soon about this?" Greg nods.

In that case, they will come in a group. Frank might be the strongest among the miners due to his aura but sometimes quantity beats quality. I'm not sure how many of these people will confront and try to force me to awaken something that I myself do not have.

I will have to either unlock my aura myself or…

I shook my head. I'll think of something. "Thanks for telling me this Greg." I said, grateful for Greg warning me, "I'll try to figure something out." Greg looked unsure but eventually nodded.

I smiled at him and the two of us exchanged some small talk before I the overseer returned. With a quick goodbye, the two of us parted ways for now. I guess there is only one thing I can do for the future.

**A few hours later**

Mining was done and I avoided anywhere crowded and places I can easily be found. Basically, I've been hiding, which unlocked a new skill.

**Hide (level 1): the ability to hide yourself from others.**

Keeping myself hidden until late night was helpful since it allowed the skill to level up to level 3. Once everyone, or at least most of them, were asleep I slipped out of my hiding spot and moved to the main entrance of the housing area.

The guards were stationed outside the door so there were none inside and there were no cameras or watch towers there too. While the security inside is incredibly lax, outside is a completely different story.

I took out the key I got from the mystery box. The key was a green skeleton key.

**Item rank: E**

**Dungeon key: Used to create and enter a dungeon. Use at the entrance of slave housing area.**

Wow, even the system recognises us as slaves. With a shake of my head I activated the key. As soon as I did the atmosphere changes. Instead of a large metal wall with steel doors, I now stand in front of a wall made of wood. The walls stretch out to either side as far as the eye can see and was twenty feet tall. The gate was completely opened, revealing what seemed to be an abandoned village. The village was incredibly large and a few miles away from me I can see a Japanese style castle.

E rank dungeon huh? I smirked. If I'm not mistaken the main character of Solo Levelling was able to level up quite a bit in an E-rank dungeon. I grinned. I wonder how much stronger I can get from this?

* * *

**Yeah, I know. Not the best sorry. Now reviews**

**andohmygodcholesterols: So here is a small show of Adam's combat ability. Like I said, he will use magic but it will be something related to his future job which, as stated previously, won't be mage or the other stuff. The job that will be given to him is one I rarely see used but still powerful somewhat.**

**Soda-fiedpsycho: You probably won't read this but I understand. To each their own I am thankful that you are the type that simply doesn't read what is not of interest to him. I know some people like to read things they don't like just to insult or bully the writers so I am glad you aren't one of those. Thank you. **

**Labda38: Thanks for the review and yes, there maybe a few changes to the future and who knows, I might not even have Adam join the White Fang. Just kidding, I know what is going to happen and I am not telling. **

**Dyalan-A-Friend: Thanks for the review and I hope you keep reading.**

**Guest: Actually, the Gamer had to rest to recover MP but it is later revealed that as long as he practices moves, skills or train stats that do not require MP he can just keep on training them without stopping. Basically, he can continuously run or lift weights to increase strength or agility as long as he doesn't use MP. At the beginning he was practising strong hit which used 15 MP.**

**Merendinoemiliano: I suppose you don't have to worry about anything since my Gamer has Teaching and he is going to use.**

**InfinityZeroDWalker: It kind of is? This is similar to Playing our Roles with an OC merging with a RWBY character. Also, the reason Ciel has what she has will be revealed later, much later. And also thank you for the review, should of said that first, sorry.**

**There is also a guest who reviewed in another language. Sorry, I don't speak Spanish and I Google translate your review and got the gist of it. Thank you for the review and I did think of doing that but... **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

**Dungeon: Part 1**

**You leveled up!**

**You leveled up!**

**You leveled up!**

I've been in this dungeon for some time and the monsters here aren't that tough. When I started of the dungeon, I thought I would face some goblins, slimes or perhaps bloodthirst farmers since I am fighting in a Japanese style village.

Boy, was I wrong.

I dodge the club of the oni and stabbed forward with my knife at the oni's heart. The oni was a few inches taller than me (remember, I am a nine years old Adam). It had light purple skin, sharp teeth and a small horn on its forehead.

The oni fell back as blood spluttered everywhere. I looked forward and I could see the castle from where I am. I've been navigating through the village's streets for almost an hour now. I turned around to see the bodies of onis, rabid dogs, and tigers.

I don't know why there are tigers and dogs mixed in there but whatever. I turned back forward and continued my journey to find out how I am supposed to get to the castle. Not a minute later, an oni tries to ambush me by jumping out of the store I was passing by.

The oni tries slam its club on my head but I manage to leap back just in time. The oni growled and tries to close the distance but I sprinted forward. The oni swings its club, mistakenly believing that I would charge into its range. Too bad I stopped right outside both of our range and threw my knife at its face.

With my Dexterity that that increases eye and hand coordination, Strength which increased the strength behind the throw and Agility that let me throw it fast the knife manages to pierce the oni right between its eyes, killing it instantly.

I was about to retrieve the knife from the corpse but a rabid dog appears out of nowhere and tries to lunge at my neck. I managed to sidestep the attack and punched the dog at its side, sending it flying into an empty stall.

I walk towards the empty stall, while recalling my knife. I didn't see it but I could just imagine the knife fading away in sparks of electricity and reforming in my right hand.

**Skill: Snipe has leveled up**!

This was a skill I got from throwing my knife. It wasn't the first time I threw it and I could imagine that this skill will be useful since it increases the range, accuracy and damage of ALL range attacks, not just knife throwing.

The dog got out of the stall covered in bruises. It bared its teeth at me and charged. I smirked as the dog lunge at me again. I threw my knife upwards which caught the dog's attention. Its gaze followed the knife. I then sprinted towards the dog while recalling my knife.

While distracted, I slid under the dog while stabbing its underbelly with my knife, letting its momentum drag it across the blade. The dog fell to the ground dead. Huh, I leveled up my wisdom with that trick.

When I started the dungeon, the onis had their names in red but after leveling up five times, I noticed that it has changed to orange. And I haven't even started to invest my skill points yet because growth increased all my stats by one for each level up.

I then noticed my an oni and two tigers charging at me from the front. I narrowed my eyes and sprinted forward to meet their charge. One of the tigers lunge at me but I leapt and grabbed the top of its head with my left hand and manage to pull my body over its head.

With my hand still on its head, I used my right hand to stab the tiger in its eye. The tiger roars in pain as I let go and landed on the ground. Another tries to attack me from the side. I turned and saw its open jaw looming towards me.

Realizing that I did not have time to dodge I thrust my arm forward and used one of my newly acquired skills. With my palm aimed at the tiger I shot out a ball of mana into its mouth. The mana blast exploded in its mouth.

With that done the tiger's movement was slowed down as it roared in pain. I recalled my knife and threw it into its left eye. The tiger roars again but still alive. I charged forward while pulling out another weapon from my inventory.

I got this weapon from one of the monsters here as a drop. I swung a wooden club, aiming for the hilt of the knife and hammered the knife so that its point stuck out the other side of the tiger's head. I held back a bit with that one.

I turned towards the remaining oni and saw that, instead of a club, it wielded a bow and arrow. I raised an eyebrow at this before realizing that it had nocked an arrow and was about to release it. I panicked and threw the club at it.

If my snipe skills do not increase from all this throwing then there must be something wrong. The oni panicked and shot its arrow. The arrow was knocked away by the club which continued its journey and hit the oni right in the face.

I closed the distance between us while recalling the knife and killed the oni, which dropped a bow and three arrows.

I then saw two more onis, this time wielding clubs, appear. I groaned. How many of these things are there? Well, at least they didn't attack me all at once. I ran forward towards the onis. The onis saw this and tries to swing their clubs at me once I got in range.

However, I then activated sprint. Not expecting the burst of speed, the onis were a bit to slow in their swing so I managed to stop the clubs by grabbing at the spot right above where the onis held it. Using mana scan, I manage to find the weaknesses in the clubs and deconstruction caused the clubs to crumble.

The onis backed away in surprise but without their weapons they became child's play.

After killing those two my level went up again.

**Twenty minutes later**

Finally, I made it to the castle. I have to admit that this was a pain to get to but I leveled up to level 17. I climbed over the gate and found myself in a Japanese garden. I hid in a bush when I saw an oni passing by. Once it got close, I grabbed it. I covered its mouth with my left arm and stabbed its neck with my knife in my right arm before dragging it into the bush.

I then continued my journey towards the castle's entrance while also stealthily taking down any monsters I could. I leveled up my hide skill while doing this too so that's a plus. Soon, I found myself at a double door. I placed my hand on it and gently pushed it open as I entered.

I was surprised by a sigil that appears at the entrance as I entered but I was already in motion so I could not stop myself. I walked through the sigil with no trouble. I blinked a few times at what I saw.

Several normal humans sat in the area, huddled together. Umm, I thought this would be the boss area but instead, I got a place where the villagers are staying, hidden from the monsters outside. One of the villagers noticed me and his eyes widen at me.

"O-one of them got through!" the villager screamed. The others reacted to his words and turned to stare at me before screaming in terror. They all backed away from me. One of the braver ones took up pitch forks and charged at me.

I easily sidestepped the attempt and grabbed the shaft of the pitch fork as it passed. I instinctively used mana scan and deconstruction, causing the weapon to crumble. The two skills leveled up again.

The farmer panicked and stumbled back. "Okay, hold on! I am not here to hurt you!" I tried to reason with them but it was no use. These people were to scared.

"Quickly, call the priest!" one of them called out as another group of villagers formed a wall between me and the others, "Who knows how many more will appear!" I sigh in annoyance. Onis and animals are one thing but I would feel bad for killing scared villagers.

I raised both of my hands in a surrender gesture as I backed away. Maybe I should just go back to killing monsters outside. I looked at my fatigue bar and scowled. My bar is almost at ninety percent. If I go out again and face those monsters I will probably collapse from fatigue.

"What is all the commotion here?" a voice called out. Everyone froze and turned towards the person who spoke. The voice belonged to a… rabbit? Wait no, the hair was styled with ribbons that looked like rabbit ears.

The voice belonged to a woman in her early twenties. She had long black hair tied in long pigtails, blood-red eyes and wore a shrine maiden clothes. One of the villagers snapped back into reality and spoke.

"Lady Hisui! One of the monsters managed to get through the barrier you put up!"

"What!?" the woman turned towards me and saw my horns. Her eyes narrowed and I realized that this is probably bad. "Creature of malice, you dare intrude into our only refuge from your kind." She said, her words dripping with, ironically, malice.

"Wait, wait, wait!" I tried to defuse the situation with words but it was starting to get obvious that they were not listening. The woman took out three slips of paper from… somewhere. Does she have inventory too?

The papers were rectangular shaped and had writings on it. I recognized those as charms Taoist and exorcists use. True enough, she threw those charms at me and they flew straight towards their target.

Midway, the charms twisted into arrows that let out a purple glow. Not wanting to be hit by that I was able to weave through all three attacks. The other villagers had backed away and are now getting behind the woman, Hisui.

The two of us momentarily paused until the villagers finally got out of the way. I looked at my fatigue bar. I should be able to last another twenty to thirty minutes but that also depends on how much I exert myself.

I have no information about the woman except that she seemed to be the leader, had exorcist abilities and was maybe around twenty years old. I sprinted towards her. Spell casters all have the same weakness, they focus on their magic abilities they tend to forget about improving their physical abilities.

The woman was surprised by my speed and tries to halt me by throwing several charms at me. The charms faded and reformed as icicles that threatened to skewer me. Weaving through them and deflecting those I could not dodge by encasing my arm with mana I was able to get halfway through before the woman threw half a dozen more charms that spread out and formed a white wall of energy which separated us.

I punched the wall with my arm that was still encased with mana but to no avail. The woman threw another charm and it exploded and turned into a fireball which went through the barrier as if it was nothing.

How did that work? I narrowly dodge the fireball but I felt the heat as it passed by and a bit of my hair was burned. Thinking fast, I recalled my skill mana scan allowed me to feel the cracks in aura. If so then it might be possible…

I placed the palm of my hand on the barrier and used mana scan. Moments later I was able to find a few cracks and weaknesses in the barrier but I also felt something like a vain that seemed to be pulsing with mana.

It was like a blood vessel and the mana was the blood. And the charms acted as the heart. I then felt myself blown away by a strong gust of wind that slammed into my chest. I quickly recovered and managed to turn my fall into a backflip and landed on all fours.

Hisui threw five charms that then floated right in front of her, forming a line with their flat side facing me. The charms then cackled with electricity before firing of a continuous bolt of lightning. My eyes widen at this and I did the first thing that came to mind.

I focused my mana into my right hand and thrust it forward and poured the mana out of my palm and willed it to form a wall in front of me right before the lighting made contact. The wall began to held but I noticed my mana diminishing rapidly.

Soon, the wall of mana began to crack as my mana went down below half. Good news, my mana wall skill leveled up. Bad news, I might die. Soon my mana wall was filled with cracks and my mana was almost down to 40 before the attack stopped.

Hisui looked surprised that I survive and truthfully, if I had not leveled up so much and growth did not automatically increase my stats then I would have been in trouble. Panting, I looked at my fatigue bar and noticed it was almost full, right now it was 95%.

I scowled. I needed to cover the distance between me and Hisui quickly and I only have one or two shots to break the barrier. I also need to make sure I knock Hisui or at least in capitate her as quickly as possible before my fatigue fills up. Which means I need to increase my Strength and Agility but if I am not careful then I might just fall unconscious before that.

I have to think fast on what I have to do before I remembered something. This is a gamble but if it turns out alright then…

I opened my stats menu and increased my Stamina to 101.

I straight away felt myself being filled with power as notification screens started to pop up.

**New skill has been created as Stamina has reached over 100!**

**Skill: Bio-energy affinity learned!**

**New skill will be granted by random as Stamina has reached over 100!**

**Skill: Bio-electricity learned!**

**New skill will be granted as Stamina has reached over 100!**

**Stamina recovery power skill learned!**

Hisui's eyes widen as she felt my power increase. I grinned at her menacingly before sprinting forward. She hastily tries to cast spells in an attempt to stop my advance but I was able to easily dodge her spells this time.

Why? Because of skill Bio-energy affinity.

**Bio-energy affinity (level 1): -Passively increases all physical attribute by 15%**

**-Passively decreases fatigue increasement rate by 10%**

**-Can be used in an active state to increase body heat (Increase fatigue)**

I soon closed the distance between me and the barrier punched the barrier at the spot where a talisman was. My fist of course stopped a few centimeters away but I also activated mana strike. My mana flowed through the barrier and into the talisman. Like a needle, my mana pierce one of the 'hearts' of the spell and like a bomb, it blew that 'heart' up.

The talisman shredded into pieces and the section of the barrier in front of me opened up. I quickly went through before the barrier can close up again. Hisui began to panic and hastily casts more spells.

I narrowed my eyes and activated the other skill I got. Electricity began to be generated from my body as it started to strengthen my body. This skill is definitely one of my favorites now.

**Skill Bio-electricity (level 1): Allows user to generate and manipulate Bio-electricity. Can be used to strengthen the body and improve speed and reflexes. (Increases fatigue)**

**Effect: -improve physical stats by 20%**

**-attacks are infused with bio-electricity**

**-Can also be used to speed up HP recovery but will be unable to activate the first effect**

While doing so, I activated sprint to make myself faster. To them, I was practically a blur. I covered the distance between us so fast that she didn't have time to even cast her first spell. I quickly punched her in the gut, causing her to buckle and myself to wince.

This is the first time I have ever hit a girl like this, or in any fashion really. I followed up with a kick that caused her to straighten back and her feet to go a few inches off the ground. I then slammed my open palm to her stomach, sending her flying back and into the crowd of villagers behind her.

Hisui was caught by a few of them before she could hit the ground hard. Electricity cackled around her though that was due to my attacks. Bio-electricity is the same type of electricity that is generated by impulse so my attacks are probably messing up the information her brain is receiving and the information her brain is sending out to the rest of her body.

Her motor function and some of her senses are probably a mess now.

I then got another notification.

**Quest: Defeat the exorcist apprentice Hisui!**

**Rewards: -1000 exp**

**-500 gold**

**-Silver Mystery box**

I didn't level up this time but I was close. The gold thing was something I noticed about my system. It did not give me lien for each monster I kill or quest completion but gold which was money I can only use in the system's shop, like solo leveling.

I turned back towards the villagers and Hisui, who was struggling to stand up. I advanced towards her and some of the villagers moved to stand between me and the woman. I raised my eyebrow at this. These villagers seem very loyal to her but she is an apprentice.

Which begged the question: where is the master?

Before I could say anything Hisui struggled to stand up and force herself through the villagers that stood between us. I tensed, thinking she would try to attack but instead she continued moving forward and into my striking distance before falling to her knees and bowing her head.

"Please, I offer you my life but spare the lives of the villagers!" She begged.

I was stunt. Here I was, a slave to the SDC, now had someone offer themselves up to me. I was about to tell her that I have no intent of hurting anyone, much less kill but stopped myself. Maybe it was due to my increase in Wisdom but I realized that if I explained myself might cause more problems.

It might be better to play along for now since I won't be in this dungeon for long anyway. "Very well then, I shall take your life and in exchange, I guarantee that I will not lay a finger on those you seek to protect unless in self-defense."

The villagers cried out in protest while some even tries to move forward to help her but Hisui merely raised one of her hand to tell them to stay put. The villagers fell silent. Some of them even began to tear up a bit. Honestly, I just felt bad.

Thankfully serene mind helps me keep a calm face but I also unlocked a new skill.

**Skill Poker face unlocked!**

**Skill acting unlocked!**

Make that two. I turned back to Hisui. "Now then, tell me what has transpired here." Hisui tensed when she heard me speak to her but raised her head with furrowed eyebrows when she heard me finish.

"A-are you saying you do not know what is going on here?" Hisui asked hesitantly. I nodded. She blinked a few times before she nods. "Very well, I shall tell you what has happened here."

"Good, but first is there anywhere we can speak in private?" I asked. Hisui tensed before nodding. "Good, now lead the way human." Hisui stood up and escorted me through the crowd. The villagers parted in order to make way for the both of us.

I allowed some of my bio-electricity to cackle and spark from time to time in order to dissuade anyone who might try to attack. I'll be honest, in my current state if they all attacked me right then, I would not survive.

We soon find ourselves in a room, separated by a shoji. I sat at one of those short Japanese tables called a chabudai. Hisui sat across me while asking one of the villagers to prepare some tea. I have no doubt that the villager will try to poison me.

With that thought I glanced at my skill Longevity. Once Hisui sat down she began to tell me about what happened at the village. "It started all began a week ago when the animals around the area started to become aggressive. At first we thought that it was a side effect from the war that is happening further north from here where the battle between our people and the monsters."

Wait, a war between humanity and monsters? Apparently, this dungeon has a story prepared. I like this kind of things where there is a story I can immerse myself in and play pretend in. "But then onis started appearing and attacking our walls and our warriors started getting sick. My master sensed that the source of all this is at the top of this castle which used to be where the rulers of this country used to stay in before the country expanded and the capital was moved to a more strategic area."

Oh, so this castle, while small, used to be where the rulers stayed. Okay then. "My master entered and went to the top floor but never returned. A few hours later a larger assault started and the onis attacked us in such a large horde accompanied by the animals. We lost as our warriors were sick and my master gone."

I nodded at this, "The sigil placed here is what is keeping the onis and animals outside?" I asked.

Hisui nods, "That is correct. The remaining villagers and myself retreated into this castle. In truth, during the previous rulers stay here they had many omnyojis come and set up a barrier in this building in order to protect them from evil spirits and monster." She frowns, "Which begs the question on how you were able to bypass the barrier so easily."

I smirked, "Who knows, maybe I was just too powerful for it?" I knew the reason however. Since I am a faunus and not an evil monster or spirit the barrier as well as being closer to human than animals the barrier recognized me as a human.

"I see…" Hisui said, "As I was saying, that was the only reason that we are here. I tried to go to the top of the tower to find my master but I instead found." She looked down, avoiding my eyes, "I found a monster. A powerful one from the feel of it. Much more powerful than those outside. My magic was useless as it was too quick and nimble as well as having high attacking power which allowed it to cut through my barriers."

"If I could get enough hits on it, I would be able to kill it but I was lucky to escape with my life." Hisui sigh, "I am useless. I could not help my master; I could not save the village and now I am the slave of another monster in order to protect everyone."

I studied her a bit. I felt bad for her but there was one thing that caught my attention. "Wait, there is a powerful monster in this castle and your all staying here with it?" I found this ridiculous.

"Well, we had nowhere else to go. On top of that the monster is in the throne room where even heavier charms and protection spells are set up so the creature is actually quite trap." Hisui informed me.

After that, our tea arrived. I had a cup of it placed in front of me and Hisui received her own cup of tea. We both took our respective tea and sipped it. I then got a notification.

**Longevity skill has been activated: Poison neutralized**!

I knew it! I smirked at the villager and continued drinking the tea as though nothing was wrong. The villager was surprised before sweating profusely as she left us. The two of us drank in silence. After we finished Hisui was the first to speak.

"Now that you know what took place here, what will you do?" She was nervous. What am I going to do? Well then there is only one thing to do. I gave her smile.

"What am I going to do? Isn't it obvious? I am going to kill the monster in the throne room!" I announced. Hisui's eyes widen. I grinned. "You say the monster is strong right? I want to fight it and kill it so that I can get stronger too." I explained, "Also its obvious that the monster or something else up there is attracting all those onis and fighting through all of them in order to leave is a pain so… yeah."

"You wish to leave?" Hisui asked again.

I grinned, "Of course. That and fighting strong opponents and the battle with you got me somewhat excited for this next one." After all the stronger the enemy, the more exp they give. "But I'd rather not take any risk so…"

I pointed my index finger towards her, "I want you to accompany me. You said that if you could land your spells on it the creature would die right? Well, I'll fight it in close range and distract it while you use your spells to damage it when you see a chance. How does that sound?"

Hisui seemed to be busy processing the information for a few seconds before she finally understood what I was proposing. "Are you saying that you will help us defeat the monster and get rid of the onis and animals in this village and then… leave?"

I shrugged, "Yup."

**A few minutes later**

Hisui left the room we were in while I remained. The reason was because I wanted to recover my strength and mana. Thanks to my new skill Stamina recovery power my stamina recover two times faster.

My mana would fully recover in one hour and my stamina will follow suit as well. Hisui agreed to accompany me in the battle against the mysterious monster in the top floor and left me alone in this room after I told her to rest up.

She didn't know that I also needed to rest and she doesn't have to. While waiting and recovering I also activated serene meditation along with practicing mana manipulation. My health wasn't that low since I used a lot of my mana and stamina to avoid damage so HP recovery wasn't important.

I reached into my inventory and took out a small piece of low-quality dust. It was blue so it was obviously water based. I took it out since it was small enough that even if triggered the most it would do was wet the floor.

I used mana scan on the dust focused on what I was feeling. It felt like pushing mana into something solid and inanimate, like a rock or wood. Once my mana fully went inside, I realized something strange.

The dust had mana inside of it. While most of the dust seemed devoid of anything there were some areas in the dust that had mana residing in it but those area felt unstable. Like, the mana was condensed and could blow at any moment.

I stopped my scan and placed it back into my inventory. I then pulled out the silver mystery box. I can tell this is going to be something of a rare item. An option screen appeared before me and I selected open.

The silver box broke down into particles of light before reforming into something way too long to fit in it. When the light faded, I found myself holding a two feet long sheath of a sword. Pulling the blade out I found the silver sword was straight with the end of it curved. Only one side of the sword seemed to be meant for cutting.

Looking at its stats, it seemed to be better than my knife.

**Unknown Sword: This sword is a mystery and its forger unknown but the sword lets out emits a faint divine aura filled with the forger's patience and calmness. This blade will kill the sinful but will refuse to draw the blood of the innocent.**

**Attack 20**

**Attack power increase by 20% against evil creatures.**

**Attack decreases by 100% against those deemed good by the blade.**

I knew this sword was a Chokuto, the same type of sword Adam uses. I tried to strap the sheath to my waist but found it too long for my current size. I huffed and strapped the sword and sheath to my back.

The stats were useful and seeing that I will be fighting something evil that additional attack power will come in handy. Besides, my knife is already full of cracks after all that monster hunting. Maybe I can learn a reconstruct skill seeing that I can deconstruct.

I leave the room and marched out of the room and asked one of the villagers where Hisui was. They nervously told me that Hisui was outside. I raised my eyebrow at this and decided to leave and see what she was up too.

I didn't see her when I came out but I definitely heard her. I rushed to where I heard the explosions happening and found her outside the walls that separated the castle from the rest of the village. She was fighting three onis and one tiger.

The tiger lunges at her but she blasted it to dust with a fireball. One of the onis charged forward but she then killed it with a large icicle skewering its body. The other two charges at once but she used two talismans that blasted the onis with lighting strong enough to turn their entire body to dust.

She sighs but I noticed an oni on top of a building aiming an arrow at her. I quickly rush forward towards her. She saw me coming and was surprised. If I wanted to kill her then she would have died there and then.

Instead, I ran past her and grabbed the arrow the oni shot. I pulled out my own bow and nocked the arrow I just caught and shot the oni right in the head, killing it.

I turned my attention towards Hisui, "You should be recovering." I said, "Also why were you using such powerful spells against these weaklings? You could kill them with much less."

Hisui avoided my gaze, "I have already recovered my mana and energy." She answered, "Also, well, my mana control isn't that… great." She admitted sheepishly, "I was born with a natural high amount of mana and when I began my training, I was slow because I had trouble controlling it and giving my spells form. That is why among apprentices I am one of the most powerful but the least skilled."

"I see," I nodded in understanding, "So you have trouble controlling your mana due to your high reserves so you can't use complex spells but can use simple spells that have more power behind it."

Hisui nodded, a bit embarrassed. Before we can continue, we both hear a growl from behind. I turned and saw several tigers, dogs and onis approaching. I narrowed my eyes before smirking. This might be an opportunity.

"Invite Hisui to party." I heard Hisui yelped. "Hisui, tap on the accept option." I commanded as I glanced at her.

The woman looked at me and look back at what I assume was the option window. Hesitantly, she tapped yes. Well then, now that she is in my party, I wonder how strong I can help her get. Also, her mana manipulation is at level 3? Wow, mine is at level 7. Maybe I can help teach her better mana control too.

* * *

**And that's it. This is part one of the dungeon. There will be two parts as Adam will want to help Hisui improve herself first by improving her level and helping her improve her mana manipulation before fighting the main boss.**

**Also, I gave Adam a sword of the same kind he used in canon but it is obviously not Wilt. Also, this character is basically becoming a more physical counterpart of Jihan now isn't he? Oh well. Also, not sure what I should name the next chapter. I guess Dungeon part 2 but if I feel like writing a longer chapter then it will be named Breaking Point. If not then the following chapter will be Breaking point.**

**Anyways, reviews.**

**Guest: Thank you**

**Guest: here you go. I hope this is good enough.**

**Lambda38: Sorry, I have no idea how I got that wrong.**

**Kirston: Thanks for the review.**

**Guest: Well, I wanted to combine a bit of Solo Leveling too since I just got into it.**

**Guest: I don't think its that good but thanks.**

**Dylan-A-Friend: Thank you.**

**Soda-fiendPsycho: Thank you for your review and your criticism is noted. I hope you continue to enjoy your read.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Dungeon part 2**

* * *

**Anthony's perspective**

The kid's resilient, I'll give him that. To be honest I was not expecting the little boy to hold out so well. Looking at his file, I reread the information I received about him. Seeing how much hardship and emotional problems Adam probably had to go through it is possible for his aura to be unlocked.

I also noticed the simple things like how Adam is definitely growing stronger. His muscles are more toned, his lasting longer and his skin is getting tougher seeing how many hits that guy can take from dust accidents and still able to shrug it off.

Which actually confused me a bit. Aura worked by having it unlocked and straight away increasing your physical abilities and protects you when active but it seems different for Adam. He seems to be growing stronger gradually and that brand is definitely fading away.

That was also a surprise considering aura doesn't heal brands or scars but it seems to work for Adam. Assuming he has his aura unlocked. Logically speaking, aura is the best assumption to make that could explain Adam's growth but even then, it doesn't explain some of the things mentioned before.

On top of that, if Adam really does have aura then why didn't he activate it during his incident against that last overseer. Unless, it was that incident that unlocked his aura. I huffed. Whatever the case, I'll get to the bottom of it sooner than later.

I put down Adam's file and grabbed another sheet of paper. As I am the overseer to confirm Adam's ability to deliver for his sister, I also get reports regarding his sister's condition. My eyes narrow at the report. It seems the council is taking notice of what is happening in the hospital and the area around it.

I smirked. It's quite humorous that they only react now and is funding for an investigation after the grim attacks at the borders increase dramatically. I continued reading the report before raising an eyebrow at the end. That is quite interesting. It looks like even a hunter and the general is getting involved too.

I wonder if they can solve this problem. I have a family in Atlas and while they are at the close to the center of it even I worry about what will happen if the grim's put too much pressure on the military.

**Ironwood's perspective**

I walked down the hall of the hospital in order to visit one of the patients. As I walked by, I can hear screaming and crying of the patients. My eyes narrowed and my mind was struggling to find a solution.

All this began two weeks ago according to one of the staffs. It began when one of the patients became unresponsive. According to the staffs he didn't react to them when they call his name, give him an injection or even pinch him. The patient simply looked blankly at the wall and sometimes eat when food is placed in front of him.

They tried to see if he suffered brain damage but nothing turned up but when they checked his brainwaves it seemed erratic and spiking up from time to time. They tried figuring out what happened but then the same thing happened to another patient.

After the third patient fell into the same condition, the screaming started. In the middle of the night no less than a dozen patients woke up suddenly screaming and crying. The patients wouldn't calm down and the staffs were force to sedate them.

From that point the number of patients screaming and crying non-stop began to increase and those that enter a trance like state also increased by at a much slower rate. At first, they thought only the hospital was affected but then the housing area nearby also started facing the same problem.

"Wow, things are looking bad here Jimmy." My co-worker commented. I scowled a bit before sighing. I have gotten a bit used to his behavior but even then, I still find them annoying. Qrow Branwen is a hunter trusted by Ozpin and had come here to assist Atlas when Grim attacks increased.

"But still, is the negativity really big enough for the Grim's to be attacking this frequently and those that are sedated shouldn't be releasing that much negativity," Qrow pointed out. He had a good point. Even if the news covered this story the negativity generated shouldn't have increased negativity this high.

"That is why we came here," I answered, "The negativity doesn't make sense and this outbreak as well. There is a chance this is… her work." I finished when we stopped outside the door of the patient we are about to visit.

"Alright Qrow, we are about to visit a… girl who has shown the first type of irregularity." I told him, "So do not do anything hasty." Qrow grumbled something under his breath but nod. The two of us enter the room to see a room with white walls, a window and a bed with one little girl on it.

The girl had red hair, blue eyes and… horns? I blinked at the revelation. I was not expecting to see such a young faunus in this hospital. "Hello there, my name is James Ironwood. What is yours?" as expected, the girl did not reply.

She didn't even seem to register our appearance as she continued to stare at the wall. I sigh before going to the table at her bedside and read her name from the paper on the clipboard. Ana Taurus? That name sounded familiar.

Ah yes, one of my soldiers came up to me and asked me to see a video of a child miner in combat with an older man. I haven't had the time to see it yet due to this incident. I'll have to find the time to do so soon. I believe the child's name is Adam Taurus.

I looked at the girl lying back on her bed that has been propped up a bit.

CLAP!

Blinking, I looked at Qrow who had clapped his hands as hard as he could in front of the girl's face. The girl did not respond. She didn't even blink at the sudden action. I shook my head, "Like I said, unresponsive."

The two of us tries to check on her condition more but we find nothing is wrong even when Qrow attempts to check her using an advance aura technique which blind huntsmen usually learn. "Nothing is coming up." He said, "By all means there is nothing wrong with her physically. You sure you don't want to just unlock her aura to see if it works?"

I grimaced. The reason Qrow proposed this was because all the patients that seem to be immune to the effects are those who have their aura unlocked. In theory unlocking her aura might snap her out of it but…

"If we want to test that theory out, we will first have to ask for the current guardian's permission." I said, "I'll go to the desk and ask the staff for the name of the guardian while you can stay wait here." As I left, I saw Qrow grabbing a stool in the room and sitting on it.

As I was walking to the desk, I saw a familiar white cape and hood. "Ah, Miss Rose."

Adam's perspective

I side stepped the attack of an oni. The club harmlessly hits the ground to my left. I quickly swung my sword upwards, cutting the oni in half. Another approached me but was blasted of balance by a sudden gust of wind from Hisui. Taking the opportunity, I closed the distance and bisected the creature with my sword.

A tiger lunges at me from the side but it missed me when I activated sprint along with enhancing my speed further with electricity. The tiger landed on all four, looking confused while myself was standing beside it with my sword raised overhead. I swung the sword down and cut the beast in two.

Two dogs rushed towards me but they were suddenly hit by a sudden wave of fire. The dogs were nothing more than bones when the fire faded. I shuddered at the sight. If it weren't for my enhanced durability and my skills that would have been me. I turned back towards Hisui.

She approached me once she was sure there were no more enemies. I had taught her the hide skill and while the skill can be used to hide her presence against these mindless monsters it has another effect where she is less likely to be noticed in battle when fighting in a group.

Basically, as long as she has that skill activate, monsters will pay more attention to me than her even when she is in the open. This works well with our strategy that I will attract the monster's attention as I am more adapt at attacking in close range while she supports me with her spells.

I looked at her stats and sigh. Her hide skill is at a higher level than mine, now at level 6 and her level has gotten higher from level 18 to 20. Makes sense as we have been hunting for almost two hours. Hisui admitted that if she was alone, she would have ran out of mana in thirty minutes but with me dealing with most of the monsters or grouping them up so that she can kill them with one powerful spell her mana expenditure has decreased. I also set the system so that equal distribution was on.

Another thing I noticed is that she has been focusing her points in intelligence. It makes sense since she needed more mana since her spells are more powerful than it should be at the cost of extra mana so she needed to increase the amount of mana she has. "Do you want to stop for now?" I asked. I was barely winded since with my high stamina and skills I not only had a lot of stamina but my stamina recovery rate is stupidly fast.

With those two mixed together my Fatigue bar barely increases every time I fight. Even now, my fatigue bar is almost back to zero after that battle. I could probably grind in dungeons of this level non-stop as long as I don't do anything stupid.

Thinking back, it has been almost five hours now that I have been in this dungeon. My level is currently 20.

Opening my status window, I looked over my stats.

**STR: 35**

**AGI: 37**

**ENDR: 34**

**DEX: 44**

**INT: 39**

**WIS: 34**

**LUCK: 23**

**Stamina: 104**

Okay, growth is really useful right now with my stats being boosted by one for each level up. Now then, I have 44 stats points to spend. I hummed in thought before placing six stats points in DEX to make it 50, just to see what I can get.

**Skill will be granted as DEX is now 50!**

**Skill Skillfulness:**

**\- the rate of fatigue increase due to use of skills is decreased by 20%**

**\- Attacks will increase by 10%**

**\- Active Skill effects will increase by 10%**

My eyes widen. Those are some really good buffs. I wonder, if I boost my intelligence to 50 what will happen? Since my system is different and my intelligence is more strongly related to my skills. With some thought I shrugged and placed the stats point into intelligence until it reached 50.

**New skill will be granted as INT has reached 50!**

**Skill mana affinity has been granted!**

**Well, that answers that. So even with the additional effect of intelligence the skill it grants from reaching 50 is still the same.**

**Effect:**

**\- Mana recovery rate increases by 10%**

**\- Mana cost decrease by 5%**

**\- Magic attacks increase by 5%**

**\- Training mana related skills has their effects increase by 30%**

Yup, this is basically the gamer's skill. I sigh and decide to save the rest of the points for now. If I recalled correctly, since I have growth instead of Gamer's body if I put too much in strength my outwards appearance will change. The same might apply if I put those stat points in agility and endurance so putting them in stamina would be better but my stamina is already high.

Even now my muscles were becoming more toned. The last thing I need was growing buff enough that I would start looking like a slightly younger Jotaro. Seriously, that guy is seventeen! So why does he look buffer than most people in their twenties?

Whatever the case, I'll hold of increasing strength, agility and endurance for now. But then again, I might need those stats in the future so maybe increasing them now wouldn't be such a bad idea…

"What are you thinking of Lord Taurus?" I heard Hisui ask. I did a double take on that. Did she just call me 'Lord Taurus'? I turned towards her, who was cautiously studying me.

"Just looking through my stats Hisui." I responded, "Also, don't call me 'Lord Taurus'. I don't like being referred with that kind of title." Seriously, even though she maybe my follower I do not intend to have her call me that. Besides, this arrangement is temporary anyway.

"I see," Hisui nodded in understanding, "So should I call you… Master Taurus?" She struggled to say that word. Hmm, it's probably because her master is probably dead and so she may find this difficult.

"No, just call me Adam." I told her, "Honestly, titles like that have no meaning to me anyway." I never feel comfortable being referred to like that anyway. It just goes against my personal believe and way of thinking.

"Okay then, Adam is the name I shall refer to you as." Hisui said. Her shoulders seem to relax a bit. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. It shows that she is trusting me a bit more and feels a bit more relaxed but this might also ruin the image I gave them. They might see this as a sign of weakness and become more bolder in their attempts to kill me whether through deceiving me or trying to find weaknesses to exploit.

We couldn't talk anymore as more onis and animals appear. I smirked and activated my skill, bio-electricity and sprint. With the two activated I dashed forward and began cutting up my enemies. As I passed a tiger, I stabbed it at its side and dragged it down the length of the tiger.

I stopped in front of an oni who tries to swing down his club but I swung my sword and cut the oni's head in two before it could even swing down its club. I then caught an arrow with my left hand and twirled it into a reverse grip before stabbing a dog in the eye when it got to close.

The dog howled and backed away but I split the dog's head down the middle with another swing of my sword. I then pulled out my dagger and reinforced it before throwing it at the oni with a bow a few feet away. The knife went hilt dip into the oni's skull, killing it.

I recalled the knife into my left hand before putting it back into my inventory as I checked the monster drop. I got another bow and a few arrows with some club. I also got some gold and fangs. Yeah, the fangs of the animals I killed. That might be useful for when I figure out how to unlock my creation skill.

I probably should get started with that once I am done here. I glance at Hisui who looked at me with a nervous look on her face. She was probably imagining that the enemies I just killed could have been her if I wanted to end her.

Well, as Sung Jin-Woo once said, against an assassin, if a mage loses their guards then their defeat is practically assured and I'll have to admit my speed can be seen as fast as an assassin if they were at my level. Now that I think about it my stats are quite high for my level, aren't they?

I had started off with the sum of seventy-two stat points divided between eight stats meaning my stats were actually eight points lower than it should since all my stats should off started at ten meaning the sum should have been eighty divided between eight stats.

Now however? Counting my unused stat points, the sum is 394 more than two times it should be. Oh well, I decided that grinding any further may not be the best idea right now. My experience is barely rising anymore.

"Let's stop here Hisui," I said, "Hunting anymore onis and animals are no longer effective. I think it is time to go ahead and deal with the monster in the castle." Hisui straighten at my voice before clenching her hands. It looks like she is determined to go and avenge her supposedly dead master.

The two of us activated our hide skill and made our way back to the castle. There were some small encounters here and there but besides that, our trip back was smooth. I went back to the room Hisui and I were in when we had tea to look through my stats.

That was when I noticed something I did not see before.

**Name: Adam Taurus**

**Race: Human (Level 7)**

Why didn't I get an alert that my race leveled up? More importantly, my race can level up? I don't recall Jihan from the Gamer or Sung from Solo Leveling having this feature. I decided to open my settings.

Scanning the setting page, I found that the Race and Job level alert was off. Seriously? What was wrong with this system? I turned the alert back on and was instantly assaulted by pop ups.

**Human has leveled up!**

**Human has leveled up!**

**Ability: Prioritize Job XP learned!**

**Human has leveled up!**

**Human has leveled up!**

**Skill: Charisma learned!**

**Human leveled up!**

**Ability: Desperate training learned!**

My mouth fell open. That was a lot of… abilities? I shook off my surprise and opened my skill list. Strange, the only thing there was Charisma. Those other things weren't listed. On a hunch I said, "Ability list." Straight away a new screen appeared before me. The screen was divided into two with one side empty titled Equipped Abilities and the other side titled Available abilities.

Strangely, none of the abilities I got was listed there. I glanced up slightly and noticed that there was another part of the screen. The top part had my name, level, job level and race level on the left while on the right had a list of abilities such as Combat Abilities, Job Abilities, Defense Abilities, Magic Abilities and Special Abilities.

The abilities also had a bar next to them but were empty. The bars said 0/20. Hmm, I touched one of the abilities but it showed the same empty screen on both equipped and available abilities. I continued going down until I selected Special Abilities. The equipped section was empty but the available abilities had all the abilities I unlocked.

Strangely, next to those abilities also had numbers next to them. For example, prioritize job XP had the number 3 next to it while the Desperate Training had the number 1. I think I saw this before… I hate this system. I truly despise this system now.

First, endurance isn't a skill like the gamer but a stat that I had to use stat points to increase then I can't learn skills from runes or absorbing skill books. I also don't have Gamer's Mind and Gamer's body instead I started of with what is basically Gamer's body nerfed and then divided into two skills. And now, it does this. I have experience with the Ability system of a game I once played and I only discovered it once I had finished one third of the game. They didn't even explain how it worked in the tutorial and I had to figure it out myself!

Sighing, I equipped Prioritize Job XP and Desperate training.

**Ability Prioritize Job XP: Increases Job EXP gain by 50% but decreases EXP gain by 50%**

**Ability Desperate training: Increases skill EXP gain by 50% but Max HP will be halved. Effect only takes place in combat. **

I noticed that the bar next to special skill now shows that it is 4/20. I nodded at this and decided to leave again. I want to increase my race level since that might be useful with all those abilities to increase experience points gain before fighting the final boss and I recall that race experience and job experience is linked. If I get 2 job XP then both my race and job gain 2 XP, not only Job. If this system is also using that game's ability system then I should at least get the race to level nine, or better yet ten.

This time, I didn't bother to call Hisui or even told her anything. I wanted to go out solo this time and Hisui needed the rest, unlike me. I also held back from dissolving the party. I hope there isn't a limit to how far party members can be from one another.

Though the demerit of my normal XP gain is halved is a bit painful to see, my XP is barely leveling up anyway so it wasn't so much of a big deal. When I got out of the castle I immediately got attacked by a pair of tigers.

Do these things really wait right outside the door or something? One of them lunges at me but I sidestep the attack and countered with an upwards word swing, decapitating the tiger. The other one charges at me in an attempt to tackle me down.

I jumped up and over the tiger while stabbing my sword into its skull as it passes. The tiger dies from that one. I ignored the pop ups about my XP gain and the drops. I have something else to focus on. "Well then, lets see how far I can take my race." I smiled as I walked away from the castle.

**Thirty minutes later**

My god, I have not even leveled up my race even once. I've killed more than a hundred of these guys and yet I still have not leveled up once. I sigh as I whipped my sword out in order to get rid of the blood on it.

I decided to head back to the castle since I think there is no point in staying here any longer. I don't know how much time has passed in the real world but assuming that the time in the dungeon moves at the same pace then I am probably going to be late for work.

With that thought I activated sprint and bio-electricity at the same time and rush back to the castle. I arrived there in a few minutes and went straight to the top floor. I walked there slowly while trying my hand at another one of the system's ability.

I looked through the options and found what I was looking for. I switched on the voice chat. "Miss Hisui, are you prepared to help me deal with the monster at the top floor?" I asked. My response was a yelp from the other side of the line.

I can imagine her looking around frantically to find the source of my voice. "Adam. Is that you?" She asked, "Where are you?"

"I am on my way to the top floor," I answered, "Right now we are communicating through the use of my power." I waited for a few seconds before I hear some shuffling and rustling sounds that made me glad I didn't try the video chat function.

"I will join you in a few minutes," She answered. I nodded and told her to meet me at the top floor.

I reached the top floor and waited at the stairs. What? Its not like I knew where the throne room is. It's a minor miracle that I manage to find all the stairs here. While waiting, I unequipped the desperate training ability and job focus ability. After a few minutes, with me practicing my mana manipulation and bio-electricity skill, Hisui finally appears.

She was dressed in her usual priestess outfit. I nodded at her in greetings, "So, shall we head out to our final challenge?" She nods silently with a look of determination. The two of us walked towards the throne room.

"I see you have been practicing what I taught you." I said when I looked up her stats to see if she was alright and saw that her mana manipulation was now at level 6. I was also surprised at how fast it leveled up. Is this the effect of my Teaching Skill? Even so it is amazing since I was giving her advices and lessons in between our grinding.

Hisui nods at what I said but didn't respond. I suppose she was still preparing her mind for the battle a head. We soon arrived in front of a well crafted wooden double door which is big enough for the two of us.

"This is the throne room," Hisui said, "I hope you are prepared Adam Taurus." I glanced at her. Is she really calling me by my full name? I wonder if there is some meaning behind that. I recall some parents will call their kids by their full name when they are extremely angry.

"I am ready Hisui," I replied. I walked forward and opened the door. Hisui… kicked my back, causing me to stumble forward before closing the double door behind me. My eyes widen in panic and I turned around to try and open it but the door wouldn't budge.

"I am not sure how you can ignore the barriers," I heard Hisui's voice, "But it seems that you cannot open the door when it is sealed with a barrier made to block both humans and monsters." I banged my fists on the door.

"Don't bother, these charms were made by me with a lot of preparation time and with the mana manipulation skills you helped me improve it is a lot stronger than the one I used before." I scowled and tried to use mana scan to determine where those charms are behind the door so that I can shred them using mana strike.

My mana couldn't even go through the door. Tch, even though the enchantments allowed humans to go through the barrier will try to resist magic from demons and humans alike. I can't get out. Damn it! Why the hell did I trust her to help me!?

I stopped when I remembered where I was. Turning around I tried to locate the enemy and quickly found it. The enemy was standing across the throne room. The room itself was wide enough to fit three or four apartment rooms with six pillars on either side of it. There was a red carpet that went from the door all the way to the throne and the throne itself was a few feet above the floor and you needed to climb up some stairs to get to it.

The enemy stands in front of the stairs with its back to the throne. The monster glared at me. It, or should I say he, wore a priest clothes. He also had black hair which reached his shoulder and had blue eyes. Only, they were glowing.

"Intruder." Those were the words it uttered and I heard them even though we were really far apart. The person grabbed the handle of the sword strapped to his waist. I quickly reacted by drawing out my bow and an arrow and shooting the boss with it.

The boss drew his blade to deflect the arrow. I took out two more arrows and shot them before charging in myself with sprint. There was something about that sword that gave me goosebumps even though both sword and sheath looked normal, aside from a few white carvings on the sheath.

The boss was able to easily deflect the arrows before I got to him. I swung my sword upwards but my enemy sidesteps the attack and retaliates with his own downwards swing but I was able to barely parry the attack. There was so much force behind that strike that I actually wince a bit.

I tried to go for a sword sweep but he hopped back and just out of my swords range before closing the distance between us again. The two of us traded sword strike for sword strike but it was obvious who was winning.

I was being pushed back. This guy's strength was insane! Even when I block, I was forced back an inch and cuts were starting to appear all over my body. I found myself force to go into complete defense against him.

Okay, maybe I should start changing things up a bit. I waited until he tries for an overhead swing. I manage to interrupt his attack by swinging my sword at his neck with my right hand, leaving my left hand empty. Of course, the priest blocked the attack with ease.

I smirked and activated mana attack which released a blast of mana from my palm, which was aimed at his feet. The ensuing explosion caused smoke to be kicked up and the boss to skid back. I also leapt back.

When the smoke cleared and the two of us can see each other the boss charges at me. I narrowed my eyes also charged at him. When we got close to each other he raises his sword. I activated sprint and was able to charge past him before he could take his swing at me.

With the man's back expose, I try to cut him at his waist but he manages to block it by placing his sword across his back. Okay, that didn't work. How about this!? I tried to attack again but he manages to turn around and block it.

He attempts to swing his katana diagonally in front of him but I grabbed the bladed part with left hand which was encased in mana. I winced at the pain but the momentary opening was still there and only a fool would ignore it.

I swung my sword and managed to cut open the guy's stomach. My enemy scowled a bit. Before I can continue, I noticed his sword releasing black and crimson smoke that encased the blade. When the smoke made contact with my mana, my mana started to flicker.

I quickly let go of his sword and jumped away. The mana that encased my hand looked like it was melting and I recalled what Hisui said. She said its attack power was strong enough to slice through her barrier but I don't think that was the case.

I think that sword of his could nullify magic. But maybe it could only nullify magic at a certain level? I mean, if it could nullify any type of magic then why hasn't he escape the room? While I was stuck in my musing, I allowed my enemy to charge his next attack.

His katana began to release even more of that smoke which rapidly swirled around his blade. He swung his sword down in my direction and the smoke began moving towards at a very fast pace. I quickly activated sprint and further augmented my speed with electricity. I ran to the side and out of the path of the smoke.

I ran forward with my increased speed and aimed to get behind the boss. I should really look at his title. As I ran past him, I focused on his name and was surprised by it.

**Name: Iruka Gozen**

**Title: Fallen Exorcist**

**Level: 34**

I blanched when I saw his level. Also, fallen exorcist? I guess I found Hisui's master. But there was definitely something wrong here. I charged at him from behind and attacked him. Obviously, the plan failed and he manages to turn around and block my attacks.

With my electricity and reinforcing my blade the two of us dueled. I found myself able to keep up with him better now that I was using the electricity to boost my strength and speed. My strength is closer to his but not quite while my speed surpassed his. However, it was our skill that really pushed me back.

He fought with his sword very well. His movements barely had, if any, wasted movement and his attacks were fluid. I began to wonder if this guy really was an exorcist. As we battled, I realized that my own fighting ability was improving greatly as the battle progressed.

The two of us broke off after a while. I was unable to land a single hit on the guy but in contrast, he hit me a few times. Even so, my durability also increased with my lightning so the damage was mitigated somewhat.

I subtly switched my lightning to its healing effect to heal some of the damage. I noticed my dexterity, intelligence and Sword mastery level up with sword mastery leveling up like crazy. I looked at my stamina and resist the urge to grin. My fatigue bar barely risen to 1%. Scratch that, it is back to zero. Iruka drew out more smoke and released them in the shape of an arc by swinging his sword.

Switching back to the empowerment effect of my electricity, I dodged the attack and rushed at him again. I swung my sword at him when I got close enough but he blocks it with ease. I gritted my teeth before going back at it with him.

I need to overpower him. That is the only way I can beat him. While I can keep up with his strength in my current empowered self and my speed surpassed his by a large margin, he more than made up the difference with skill alone.

In fact, he was getting better. Or maybe he wasn't taking me seriously before? I feel like it was the later. Cuts were starting to appear more frequently around my body and I found myself being pushed back.

Iruka tries to do an upwards swing at me but I took a chance and activated sprint to rush to his side just in time to dodge the attack. My agility increased with that. I tied to swing my sword to cut him from behind but he blocked the attack again.

I scowled and focused the electricity to augment only my speed and ignore everything else. If the only stat I can beat him in is speed than I will overwhelm him with the only stat I surpass him with! Before he can even turn to face me, I had already sprinted from my spot and attacked him from a different position.

He blocked that attack too but before he can pull back his blade, my sword was already coming at him from a different direction. This continued with me sprinting around in circles, leaving a trail of electricity as if I was the Flash.

Soon enough, Iruka was sporting several shallow cuts all over his body. I smirked. This is it! I was about to win this! Of course, that was when Iruka swung his sword and it actually moved towards me and threatened to cut my head in two.

Experience.

That word echoed in my head. He didn't just beat me in strength and skill but experience as well. And that experience had allowed him to predict my movement eventually. I raised my sword to defend but since I didn't use anything to augment my strength the blow caused me to lose my balance and stumble back.

Iruka raised his sword over his head. I glared. No, I was not letting this become the end of me. I've come this far and I do not intend to go out now. In my previous life I had no goal. I had no dream and only went with the flow.

But here, I had a goal to protect someone. Here, I knew Adam Taurus had to play a role which will affect the bigger role and while I still am trying to figure out what to do with my knowledge, I know that my decision will affect this world whether for the better or worst.

I used the enhanced speed to regain my footing and raised my sword overhead. I then focused the electricity to enhance my strength and ignore everything else. On top of that, I did something I had been hesitant to try but you know what? Screw it!

I used reinforcement on my body to its absolute limit and it burned. I can tell my health was being consumed along with my mana. The two of us swung our swords down. The clash forced Iruka to skid back to our shock.

I recovered first and distributed my lighting to empower certain stats. I moved forward and the two of us continued our fight. The two of us were focused on one another and ignored everything else. It was obvious now. Iruka was getting more serious as the fight went by and he even started to sweat.

My stats were overpowering now but his own ability shouldn't be ignored. At one point, I focused all my reinforcement on my legs and jumped up. My little jump reached all the way to the ceiling. I flipped and planted my legs on the ceiling before kicking of and then focusing my reinforcement on my arm and did a single hand sword strike.

I grinned and pushed of him. While doing so, I summoned my knife in my free hand and threw it at him. Iruka easily deflects the attack. But not what followed it. I rushed towards him and he prepared himself but then noticed something amiss. He looked up to see debris of the broken ceiling falling towards him.

While the floors and walls were heavily enchanted it seems the ceiling was enchanted with spells to defend from curses, ghosts and demonic mana. My mana wasn't demonic. Perhaps in those times the only things that could attack from the air was demons and ghosts and thus the defense of the ceiling was focused on those and completely ignored the idea of putting the enchantments to defend from human mana?

Regardless, I took advantage of that and use my deconstruct skill to break apart the ceiling, or at least a section of it… I hope. Iruka however leapt back to avoid it. And that was his mistake. You see when you jump in a fight like this, especially when your opponent is the very speedy type, you have to make sure you keep the hang time as low as possible or else…

Before Iruka can land, I rush underneath him with everything focused on speed. I grabbed his ankle as I passed by then I switch everything to focus back on strength and swung Iruka to the ground as hard as I can.

This caused a small tremor and stunt Iruka for a bit. I twirled my sword in my hand and put it in a reverse grip while channeling bio-electricity through my hand and into Iruka causing him to convulse. I then stabbed my sword into his gut and channeled my electricity through it as well.

Iruka grasped his sword and released more smoke and it shrouded him. What? This thing can be used to increase magic resistance too? I guess Hisui wouldn't be much use here then. The guy is definitely fast even on Hisui's standard and also had magic resisting smoke.

I would be worried… if it wasn't for the fact my bio-electricity wasn't magic based. Speaking about the sword…

I grabbed Iruka's wrist with my free hand, now that I no longer had to hold his ankle with the bio-electricity paralyzing him, and crushed it by focusing everything on strength. Iruka grimaced and let go of the sword. I kicked it away.

I then looked at him and sigh. I don't know what to do with him right now. I don't think Iruka is evil. To be honest I think that something is making him doing this so I don't want to kill him but then if I don't then he will still be a threat and considering what I am sensing from the sword, it might be the source of all these problems.

But even while knowing this it didn't mean anything. With a heavy sigh I recalled my knife. In case I plan to play Adam's role I guess I should at least have some experience in this, right? I first dissolve my party with Hisui however.

I looked at the still paralyzed exorcist and gave him a sad smile. "I'm sorry," I whispered before reinforcing the knife and infused it with bio-electricity. I stabbed the guy in the neck at on side and dragged it across his neck to the other side. I then pulled it out and began stabbing it repeatedly in the head to make sure.

After a few seconds I got the alert. I defeated the boss. I killed someone. Killing monster and animals were one thing but I killed someone. That reality dropped on me but I immediately tried to force it down. It was simple thinking about it. It was easy doing it. But after I did it and suddenly I… no.

It had to be done. I had no idea how to cure the guy and it wasn't like I am going to stick around here after this. I went took his sheath and that sword. When I grabbed the katana, it released that same smoke.

My eyes widen when that smoke became like a tentacle and began to make its way up my arm. I tried to let go but my hand wouldn't respond. I tried to sheath the blade. The smoke still continued to make its way up my arm.

Eventually, it completely encased my body and I fell to all fours. The sword is now in the sheath that I held in my right hand. I moved towards the corpse of the dead exorcist. I wasn't exactly sure why but I felt like I should.

It felt like hours when in truth only a few seconds passed but I reached the corpse and touched the forming pool of blood with the sheath. The blood reacted. It slowly moved and was absorbed into the sheath.

The carvings on the sheath started to glow red and once the blood was all drained out the smoke disperse. I looked at the sheath and saw that it had a name.

**Name: Demonic seal: Astaroth**

**Description: Enchanted by the blood of a powerful exorcist this sheath was made to seal the power of the sword which contains the soul of a powerful demon. Once the energy within the blood fades a new exorcist must be sacrificed.**

I shuddered. That means that exorcist blood is somewhat poisonous to demons? But that made sense. When I touched the sword the energy from it made what I had experience in the fight look like nothing. Its possible that the exorcist's power and the demons were canceling each other out mostly, resulting in a severely weakened boss.

I couldn't help but wonder how I was able to resist it for as long as I did. Did the system protect me or something? I stood back up to my full height. I put the sword and sheath into my inventory. I feel like it will be safer there.

I looked back at the message before me and saw an option to leave the dungeon. Yeah, I'm going ahead and leaving.

* * *

**An that is it. This chapter came out longer than I originally planed and well yeah. Not sure how to feel about the boss fight. I mean I thought about it being a fight with both Hisui and Adam against the boss but then I realized that Hisui doesn't really trust Adam so the logical thing to do would be to put the two greatest threat against each other and take out the weakened one.**

**So, Adam fought a possessed priest but as mentioned both priest and the demon possessing him had their powers canceling each other out and the clash was actually damaging the body so believe or not Adam fought the boss in its weakened state. Its severely weakened state.**

**I also put something new to the system in the form of abilities! I'll admit, I got this idea from an RPG I played once upon a time. The ability system will be explained more in the future and for those who are wondering, leveling up your race does not increase any stats or give the player stat points. It will sometimes give skills and abilities.**

**Now reviews:**

**Dylan-a-friend: Thanks**

**Merendinoemiliano: I don't think I did well on the fight scenes. Also the weapon is less of a divine weapon and more like made by humans and blessed by holy water level weapon. Divine weapons would have the attack power of at least 100.**

**TriggerLaw: Thanks**

**Sword'sfunPen'sbetter8P: Thank you**

**DG2: Did you assume he was going to talk it out with the overseer that did that to him? His nice but not that nice. Anyway, thank you for your review and criticism. I hope I can make this story better but it is my first attempt at this kind of story so I am a bit nervous. And that second soul bit will play a big roll on later and it will be settled in one chapter at most. I don't really plan on dragging that part out.**

**InfinityZeroDWalker: Thanks but I want to hold back on naming weapons for now.**

**Ivanaccco: Hmm, originally I plan for there to be more Gamers but decided to change the idea slightly. Besides, Ciel isn't actually a gamer but her abilities may seem may sound game like at first. It will be revealed what her ability is. It is quite powerful considering the difference between Remnant and the Gamer's world but still has restrictions. Hint, when she said status she wasn't looking at her status.**

**TheGreatDoaistDumpling: Don't worry about I understand. Okay so I'm sorry I didn't explain this first and foremost. You see I made endurance and stamina split for a few reasons. First of Endurance actually translates to defense only as a reference to the Gamer who has physical endurance as a skill rather then an ability. The reason why I nerfed endurance into a stats was because how powerful it would be in the world of remnant. The higher the level the more percentage the physical damage nullified. At level 99 all physical damage will be reduced to 1% at level 100? Good luck to any professional huntsman that want to hurt him. This world barely has magic and such a thing can only be used by 5 people. On top of that since I am increasing endurance through the damage he receives from dust accidents this skill will protect him from dust too so practically no huntsman who doesn't have a semblance based attack that purely uses aura could hurt him. Stamina became its own stat because it does more than just make him tired slower. It lets him recover his stamina faster and I don't mean physical stamina but mental stamina too. This guy falls unconscious when his fatigue is full because of this but as long as his fatigue isn't full then he can keep on staying awake. Right now his stamina recovery is fast enough that he can take on an entire pack of beawolf, including an alpha, and his fatigue wouldn't even touch 1% and 10 seconds of rest will be more than enough to put the number back to 0. Stamina is also providing him food. Stamina also shows how fast his body provides itself nutrients. While Adam does eat he only does so for breakfast and lunch since the overseers and all the miners are there, have any of you guys noticed that he has started skipping diner or the fact he hasn't drank from water from the trough? In chapter two at the end there was a summary on his schedule and how he divided his day he stated that he goes straight from the mines to help Dr Soleil, skipping diner. Yup, his stamina stats made it so he no longer needs them anymore. Stamina reflects physical stamina, mental stamina, nutrients in his body and hydration. This also to reference how in some games eating and drinking restores Stamina. This also happens to help Adam cover a weakness the Gamer has. Jihan revealed later in the series that he still does need to eat and drink from time to time but now Adam doesn't. There is another reason why I didn't combine the two. There is another stat endurance effects and another stat stamina effects. If I combined the two Endurance will be doing six different things at once and will give him 2 skills at 50 and 4 to 6 skills at 100. Also the reason he dumps his stat points in Stamina instead of any other stats is because we'll. First the other physical stats might change his appearance drastically. He wants to keep his ability a secret but he doesn't have Gamer's body but growth. This is really bad cause this means that if his physical stats like strength, agility or endurance reach a 40 or above his body will go through a massive change. Look at solo leveling who also has growth. When his strength reach 48 he. Went from a wimp who was barely taller than his sister to being a buff six packed guy who was now a foot taller than his sister at least. The reason he didn't raise his other WIS or INTEL was actually explained in the previous chapters. If you have anymore questions you can PM me as well if you like.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

* * *

**Screw it, I'm out**

**Adam**

Okay, first discovery upon exiting the dungeon, it was still dark out. I was confused since I spent five to six hours in the dungeon the sun should be starting to rise by now. Secondly, I found that I was granted a few rewards upon clearing the dungeon.

The first reward wasn't that grand, five stat points. The second reward was a book. I got excited and took it out immediately. The book was black with purple marki8ngs that seemed to glow slightly in the dark.

**Item: Book of runes (Basic)**

My eyes widen. A book of runes? I smiled. Rune magic is somewhat interesting seeing that it was a type of magic that relied on carving runes to cast magic spells. Though magic wouldn't usually be what I would think could be something I would put under consideration runecraft might be an exception due to how it worked.

But before that I decided to sneak into my shack. Using my Hide skill, sneaking into a shack with all its occupants asleep was child's play. I went in and scoop some water from the trough I tried to pour the water into the inventory and it actually worked. Smiling, I continued this for a bit more before leaving.

Sneaking out, I looked for a secluded place to perform my experiment. Once I found the place, I open my inventory and poured the water out on the ground until it became a bit muddy. I scooped up the mud and tried to make a mud doll. I stopped and look at the monstrosity once it looked vaguely humanoid.

I then got a notification.

**A new skill has been unlocked due to action performed by the player!**

**Skill: Construct unlock! The ability to construct objects out of materials that is in possession of player. The higher the level the more objects player can construct and the higher the quality of constructs able to make becomes.**

I smirked and pick up my mud doll and used mana scan followed by deconstruct. I then use construct to make a better mud doll followed by mana scan and then deconstruct again. I continued doing this while holding the mud doll in my right hand while I took out the book I got and sat down to read.

While doing this I activated Bio-energy affinity to heat up my body slightly since it was cold and I couldn't stay warm through exercise. Another bad thing about not having Gamer's body, my body is affected by the surrounding temperature even if it is not too extreme.

**A few hours later**

As we were marched to the quarry, I looked at my skills that I leveled up and acquired.

**Construction (level 10): The ability to construct objects using materials that are possessed by the player.**

**Deconstruct (level 13): The ability to use your mana to aim for structural weaknesses and exploit them to deconstruct a structure.**

**Mana scan (Level 15): The ability to use mana to determine an object's attribute.**

I also learned a few basic runes and how to cast them last night.

**Runecraft (Level 0): Required knowledge to cast met, now awaiting second requirement met**

Now, I have to figure out this requirement thing. I figured that it was due to lack of dexterity but if so, then wouldn't there be a message that would have told me that? Whatever the case I will have to figure it out after I escape. Yes, I plan to escape now.

My reasoning is quite simple, my appearance. Remember how I leveled up a lot and my stats got raised? Yeah, apparently, I didn't need any of the physical stats to reach forty or above. Even at its current level I went from a lanky nine years old to what can be mistaken for a teenage athlete.

I grew from four feet and three inches into five feet and seven inches tall. My muscles were also showing and I could see what looked like the beginning of a six-packs. All this in less than a month… Yeah, pretty hard not to notice.

I activated my hide skill and avoided anyone that knew me personally. The hide skill would make people pay less attention to me but if someone like Greg, Dr Soleil or my personal overseer then that will be a completely different story, especially if they are actively looking for me. My only choice would be to escape at this point in order to avoid too much trouble.

I know that there should be a few healing runes in that book somewhere but I haven't gotten that far yet. Once I learn those, I can help heal Ana and her more serious injuries should have been taken care of by now anyway. Well, at least that is assuming I can figure out the other requirement that needs to be met and actually meet it.

I snap out of my musing when I noticed that we were almost there. I was about to make my move when I suddenly got an alert.

**Bloodlust Detected**!

My eyes widen and I quickly looked around but I couldn't see anything around us except snow and some trees. I studied the skies but saw no sign of hostile forces. Why had my Bloodlust detection skill alert me of bloodlust?

I focused on my skill. Hmm, it seems that the bloodlust is coming from… underneath? Wait, what? No sooner than I thought of the question the ground around us erupted. The miners panicked and ran in random directions while the overseers pulled out their respective weapons.

I stood there like an idiot. The creature that appeared was definitely a Grimm but I had never seen this kind before. It looked like a giant centipede. Looking at the name above its head I saw that it was classified as a Centinel.

The name was red. The Centinels turned towards the panicking miners as they were drawn by their negativity. I snapped out of my daze and activated the reinforcement skill on the pickaxe. I charged towards the closest Centinel and drove the pickaxe into its unprotected underbelly.

The Grimm let out a cry of pain and turns in order to try and bite me. I jumped back just out of its range to avoid the attack before charging back in. With both hands on my pickaxe, I swung it upwards. The pickaxe manages to cut into its skin but nowhere near enough to prove fatal.

The grim swung its body and body slams me to the side, sending me flying a good distance. I turned my fall into a backflip and landed on me feet before stumbling a bit and falling on my rear. I winced, that hurt and ate a lot of my HP. I lost a fourth of my HP. Only four hits from this creature and I am dead. And that was a body slam. What about its bite or something else?

My attacks barely made any damage. Should I pull out my sword or knife? No, that will draw too much attention. Wait, my enemy is a Grimm and if my theory is correct. I dashed at the Centinel. The Grimm tries to hit me with the same attack but I bent my knees and leaned back mid charge, allowing me to slide underneath the attack and then I place my open palm on the Grimm.

I only held it for a few seconds and was forced to roll out of the way when the Grimm tried to crush me with its body weight. But already got what I wanted. The Grimm lifted itself back up. While it was open, I leapt onto its back. The Grimm tries to shake me off. I hugged its body with my legs before slamming my opened right palm on the Centinel's body. "Mana strike." I muttered.

I lifted my hand up and saw that the Grim was dissolving into black smoke from where I had been touching. The Grimm fell to the ground as it faded away. So, my theory was right. Grimms are basically magic golems so I used the same method I used to neutralized that priest's spell. I stood back up and looked around to see the overseers fighting of the other Centinels.

I got a bit of exp, even more than killing the onis and animals, but did not level up. I turned when I heard a cry of pain. Another Centinel had just strike another miner. The miner was a bit too far for me to get to in time without enhancing myself. So, I decided to reinforce my arms and throw my pickaxe at the Centinel as hard as I can.

The pickaxe hit the Centinel but did no visible damage but it did get its attention. The Centinel turned as I ran towards it. It charged at me but I managed to leap over it and tried to use mana scan on it once I landed on top of the Centinel.

What the heck? Why is it taking so long for me to find the heart on this one? The Centinel began thrashing around trying to get me to let go of it. I held on as if my life depended on it (and it actually did) after a few more seconds I finally found it.

I pulled my right arm back and punched the Centinel and followed up with a mana strike. The Centinel let out a pained shriek before falling to the ground dead. I actually leveled up on that one. Some of the overseers were still fighting and these Centinel's weren't too hard to kill for them but the numbers are what was making things difficult.

The overseers were armed with rifles for range and swords or batons for close combat. I looked around and decided to attack the next closest Centinel. This one was strange. I placed my hand on it and I was able to almost instantly identify where the heart was and before the Centinel even knew I was there I had already climbed onto its back and used mana strike at its head, killing the heart of the spell holding it together.

My eyebrows furrowed, why was it so easy for some and so hard for others? I shook my head and attempted to help but was interrupted by a loud roar. I looked up at the sound and saw what maybe the thing that would kill me.

The Grimm that landed was huge. It had the head and the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle and a scorpion tail and horns. It was also very large. I mean the thing was basically a flying mini bus but a bit bigger. How much RWBY was I missing!?

The Grimm locked its gaze on the closest target, an overseer who had been distracted by its sudden appearance was taken by surprise by one of the Centinels. He managed to kill it and his aura took most of the blow.

Now that I look at him, why was he just standing there? The Grimm got ready to pounce at him and I got a good look at its name.

**Manticore**

And it was in crimson red.

I feel like the mystery marks where the level should be was trying to give me a good idea on how tough it is. Regardless, I tensed my muscles and sprinted towards the manticore while pulling out my sword. I didn't care if people will get suspicious, I needed as much help as I can to beat this thing.

Once I closed the distance, I leaped up and tried to run through its eye with the sword. The damn thing only grazed off the eye! And to add insult to injury another message pop out.

**Manticore did not feel any pain**.

I did, however, get its attention. The problem was that getting its attention probably wasn't a good thing if my plan involved surviving. The manticore used its scorpion tail to whack me out of the air and causing me to crash into the ground.

A small crater formed and I took so much damage that my health had basically been cut in half, if not more. The manticore turned back to me and tries to sting me with its tail. I managed to get out of the way using every skill that will improve my speed but even then, it had been close.

The manticore turned and tries to sting me again but I managed to narrowly dodge that attack too. I can already tell that beating this Grimm is way above my current ability and my best bet would be to distract it.

I threw my sword back into the inventory while still running and ducked under a claw swipe. Honestly, this thing is smart. Wait, maybe if I can grab hold of it…

I sidestepped out of a strike from its scorpion tail and grabbed onto it. The Grimm pulled back its tail and began to shake it around in an attempt to get me off of it. I held firm and used mana scan.

A few seconds later I found a problem. I couldn't find its heart. It's as if the 'veins' of the magic is a forest and I am looking for a treasure with no map, compass or any form of instruction. Basically, impossible.

The Grimm eventually forced me off of its tail but I was able to turn my fall into a landing. I landed a few feet away from the Grimm. Okay so that plan failed. Now, what next? The Grimm open its mouth and I noticed that something was starting to glow in there.

Ah, you have got to be kidding me. The Grimm shot a fireball at me but I was able to roll out of the way. So Grimms can shoot fireballs now, okay then. In hindsight I should have seen this coming.

While I was still recovering from the roll, the Grimm lunges at me. Noticing this, I increased my leg strength with reinforcement and bio-electricity to jump over it. The Grimm landed below me and tried to put everything into my right arm and delivered a punch at the Grimm's back. If this things defense is too high for my sword to pierce than maybe blunt force will work.

The Grimm let out a small grunt but other than that there was no visible damage. I saw the Grimm's tail moving towards me. Damn it! I can't get out of the way in time! Feeling desperate, I channeled mana and bio-electricity into my free hand and focused it out of me.

What resulted was a stream of blue lightning blasting out and intercepting the tail. The two collided and caused a small explosion but the tail continued as if nothing happened. However, the tail hit nothing but air.

Due to the small explosion, I was pushed away. Landing on my feet, I decided to focus on keeping myself out of its sight. The Grimm tries to turn in order to face me but I had already ran to its other side.

I scowled as I ran around it in order to strike from its blind spot. I punched the Grimm and used mana strike, hopping this will cause it some damage. But my eyes widen as the mana I force into its body was quickly swept away by the mana flowing inside the Grimm.

The Grimm must have realized where I was because it buckled its front legs and kicked me with its hind legs. The blow sent me flying a few feet away and crashed into a bed of snow. I groaned and spit out blood from my mouth.

What was I thinking when I decided to fight this thing? The Grimm wasn't satisfied with me yet. As I got up, I saw that the Manticore was about to blast me with another fire ball. My eyes widen. Seeing as how it is either fight or die (I doubt I could outrun this thing once it starts to fly and blast me with fireballs from above) I decided to take another gamble.

I raised my right hand and tried to use that skill I had used earlier. When I saw a message pop out, I was honestly surprised by what I say but decided to keep my focus on my task. "Snipe." I muttered before the Blue lightning shot out.

The attack surprised the manticore and the lightning went into its mouth as it was about to release the fireball. The fireball exploded in its mouth and the Grimm began to growl as it reared its head back and shook it side to side.

I took the opportunity to pull out a bow and arrow, nocked the arrow I used construct to turn the arrows head to have a more drill like look to it and reinforce my arms, the bow and arrow. I even channeled my bio-electricity to the arrowhead.

I let the arrow fly. The arrow hit the Grimm but didn't cause as much damage as I had hopped. The arrow just cut a very shallow cut. I scowled but there wasn't much I can do. The manticore had recovered and spread its wings.

My eyes widen, if that thing got airborne then my options to damage it will decrease. I charged forward in an attempt to stop it but truthfully, I don't know what I was going to do to stop it. Whatever it was, it didn't matter as the Grimm swiftly turn, using one of its wings to hit my side once I got close enough.

Gasping in pain, I fell yet again to the ground. The Grimm raised its scorpion tail and strike me with it but I manage to roll out of the way. The Grimm continuously tries this, not giving me a chance to get up.

The Grimm then growled in frustration and took to the skies before I could do anything. I gritted my teeth. The Grimm began bombarding me with fireballs. I think I am screwed. I looked at my health. Yeah, even when my passive skill Self-Preservation is activated it will only take two good hits to kill me.

I began dashing away while the Grimm shot fireballs at me. My plan was to make a run in the direction of the flying city. Hey, Atlas is known for its military power so I am sure they can spare some of it to help kill this Grimm.

I activated sprint and bio-electricity along with reinforcing them with mana. The result was me becoming so fast that if increasing my speed didn't also miraculously increase my reflex then I everything I ran past would be a blur.

Hmm, I feel like this could be used as an exploit…

As I ran, I heard the flapping wings of the Grimm. That thing was keeping up! Damn it! The Grimm began shooting fireballs at me. How did I know? One of them almost hit me but missed and blew up a bit to far ahead to my left.

I began running in a zig-zag in hope to confuse this Grimm. The Grimm just kept trying to shoot me. After what felt like hours of dodging and running, I saw something a head. It was still too far to make out the details but I think it was man made.

I couldn't make it as the Grimm finally shot a fireball that still missed, but it blew up right next to me, sending me falling onto my side. The Grimm flew ahead and landed right in front of me as I got up. The thing attacked me using its claws but I managed to dodge by jumping back.

Unfortunately, the Grimm was prepared for this and had already prepared another fireball at me before I even touched the ground. I raised my right hand and summoned a barrier made of mana. The fireball made contact with the mana wall and exploded, shattering the mana wall.

I took more damage and I went flying again. The Grimm was relentless. It lunges after me before I even comprehend that my feet left solid ground. The Grimm was either planning to pin me down with its entire body before finishing me off or it was going to just crush with its weight.

Regardless I quickly pulled out a bow with my left hand and drew two items from my inventory in my right. "Construct!" I nocked an arrow and focused mana into it before releasing. The arrow hit the Grimm right in the face.

While a normal arrow wouldn't have done anything, even with reinforcement, the arrow I shot had been modified with my Construct skill in order to incorporate another element to the arrowhead. I am so glad I took some of those dust.

The arrow exploded upon impact which surprised the Grimm and caused it to stamp onto the ground to stop it mid-lunge. I landed on my feet and pulled out an ice dust along with another arrow. Using construct, I then shot the Grimm with the dust at its face.

The arrow landed right between the eye, causing ice to form the top half of the face. The Grimm began trying to shake of the ice from its eyes while I used my electricity to heal myself. This thing is strong, fast and durable.

My only hope is to get help but can I make it to safety before this thing kills me? The answer? Probably not. The Grimm is able to fly faster than I could run and reinforcement won't help me for long seeing my mana is a tenth away from total depletion and my fatigue is at 30% so stamina is a go but it shows how powerful the Grimm is because my short scuffle with it forced me to push myself even more than the possessed priest.

I sigh. I need to at least make it lose its ability to fly. I pulled out my sword and channeled electricity through it. The sword let out sparks of yellow but that wasn't enough. I pushed it further. The sparks became brighter and more frequent.

I scowled. I need more. Pushing even more the yellow electricity no longer sparked but instead encased the sword in yellow with electricity flying everywhere. Compress. The electricity began to compress and the sword began to vibrate intensely.

I sigh and looked at my fatigue bar. Holy crap, that filled ten percent of the fatigue and it is increasing by one each minute it is maintained. I turned back to the Grimm who had just gotten the frost of with its claws.

I grit my teeth and focused reinforcement and bio-electricity into my arms and legs. That's it, if I fail then the Grimm will kill me. If I miss, I will no longer have mana and I might not get a chance like this again since I only had one ice dust.

I gripped the sword in both hands and it hurt. The electricity and the vibration were so intense that it was actually burning and peeling off my flesh. I charged forward with sprint as the Grimm turned towards me.

Seeing me running at it with a glowing sword probably set off alarms. As I got closer, Murphy's Law kicks in. I slipped on a puddle. The puddle was probably caused by the Grimm's fireball or my fire dust. I managed to regain footing but that momentary stumble bought the Grimm enough time to dodge to its left.

I swung my sword vertically but all I did was cut the Grimm's side. The cut was deep and half way along the length of the Grimm but it wasn't fatal. The Grimm used its wing to hit me and I fell a few feet away from it. The Grimm turns and prepares a fireball to finish me off.

I couldn't get up in time and the blow will kill me. In desperation I focused everything I had left into my right arm and threw the sword. The sword sailed quickly and buried itself between the right wing and the shoulder of the Grimm.

The Grimm roared and shot the fireball upwards. That's it! The Grimm shouldn't be able to fly now that it lost its right wing. I recalled my sword and true enough the wing fell limp on the Manticore's side.

I turned to run but the I screamed in pain before falling onto the snowy ground. Looking at my legs I saw that the Grimm was finally able to pierce one of my legs with its scorpion tail. The Grimm then began to charge another fireball.

I grit my teeth. So, is this how I die? This wasn't how I wanted to go out. Dying to a monster in the middle of a snowy area with my only company being the soul inside this body. Oh right, Adam is here. I looked at my health which was at ten.

… Good enough.

I looked at my still glowing sword and cut the scorpion tail with it. The Grimm roared again but to be honest, what was it expecting me to do? I tried pushing myself up but it looks like my Rehabilitation skill isn't instantaneous.

Stuck on the ground for now I took out more arrows from my inventory, five to be exact, and one more fire dust. Using construct, I created an arrow made out of metal and the dust became the arrowhead.

I shot the arrow and it hit at the exact spot the I hit the Grimm by throwing my sword, thus it dug right in there. It was quite easy with my snipe skill and the fact we weren't that far away and my dexterity being high.

The Grimm merely growled at this but before it can do anything, I focused my Bio-electricity into my finger and shot it at the shaft of the arrow. The electricity was conducted by the metal and into the dust.

If stable dust can be triggered by a sneeze then what about an unstable dust charged with electricity? The answer came in the form of an explosion. The Manticore actually stumbled to the left as its wing fell off.

I wasn't sure why but when I remembered Adam's presence, I actually felt his emotion. In it there was fear, anguish but among all of that there was determination and anger. Not at fate, not at the Grimm but at me. Angry that I would give up just like that.

The determination filled me with comfort and also cleared my thoughts a bit and that anger was telling me to do something instead of just waiting to die. No wait, the determination only helped me focus a bit more but it was Adam's presence that made me feel comfort. Because I knew that I wasn't alone and that is enough to comfort me this once.

I used the wooden sheath that I made from the shafts of the arrows to help me stand back up. Looks like Rehabilitation is done. My intention was to run but now? Adam was demanding blood and looking at the Manticore with no tail and with the lost of its right wing I felt like that it is possible.

Using my Bio-electricity I began to heal myself. The manticore finally recovers and looks at me but I had already began sprinting towards it. The Grimm tried to hit me with its front left claw once I got close but I stabbed my sword into the ground and pushed myself up so that the attack would hit the sword instead. The edge of it.

The Grimm roared as the sword dug into its wrist but I wasn't done. I replanted both feet to the ground and other side of the sword and held the hilt with both hands. Switching my Bio-electricity focus into strength, I pulled the sword out and cut it all the way through the wrist, severing the claw.

I then twisted my entire body and kicked the Grimm's face from its right. Under normal conditions the Grimm might have just shrug the blow off but with the lost of its right wing and left claw it couldn't maintain stability and so it actually fell onto its side.

Seizing the moment, I stabbed the sword into its exposed underbelly and drag the sword across its length of the body. The Grimm's body stilled for a moment before it began to fade. I grinned like and idiot before falling onto my knees.

I looked at my fatigue bar and what I saw shocked me. It was at 98%. What in the world!? Did maintaining the sword really took that much energy? Damn it! I turned towards the floating city and notice once again the thing in the distance. I sheathed the sword and put it away into my inventory. I sigh as I looked around to make sure no other Grimms were around. I then took something else out of my inventory.

It was the mud doll I made. I smiled and began using construct on it. I couldn't practice deconstruct due to the lack of mana right now but I can use it to change the dolls shape and form. While doing so I opened my skill list to look at my new skills.

**Electric Vibration (level 2): By channeling and encasing your weapon with electricity you can now dramatically increase the damage and piercing power said weapon deals. However, casting and maintaining this skill requires a lot of stamina or mana depending on the nature of the electricity**.

That is the skill I used just now to turn the tables on the manticore. So, it did use a lot of stamina but seeing how effective it was I wasn't really surprised. What I was really interested in was the two other skills I unlocked.

**Electric Release (level 1): The ability to mold your chakra into the form of electricity and releasing it.**

**Chakra manipulation (level 1): The ability to generate and manipulate chakra by combining physical energy collected from every single one of the cells in the body (stamina) and mental energy collected from the mind's consciousness (mana).**

It also seems that I unlocked an affinity for electricity…

Well, I guess I better keep going. I closed the screen and began to walk in the direction I had been heading in. I'll have to check on those skills later but for now I getting to Atlas is my main priority.

**Antony's perspective**

It has been an hour since the attack. Due to the Grimms ten miners had died, several injured. On the other hand, three overseers died and ten injured. Due to this event we decided to call for assistance and report the incident.

We were advised to hold back any mining activity for today until the military can get here and scout the surrounding area before continuing. I was honestly surprised that they had men to spare but was grateful nonetheless.

While waiting I heard that that Adam was missing after the event. Poor kid, probably died when the Grimms attacked. I frowned a bit at that. Despite my job, I really feel for the kid working his ass off to provide and take care of his sister.

And yes, I mean his sister, not himself, since when I looked through his records, I found that many, and I stress MANY, times he had been admitted to the medical shack due to various reasons. Some were scuffles when some overseer or miner tried to pick on his sister, others is due to malnutrition because he gave his food to his sister or overwork and there were times, he was punished due to mess ups which was a bit hard to believe he caused it if one thought it through. For example, how did he mess up the delivery of a cart of dust when it was his sister that had been tasked to make sure it got there while Adam had been literally thirty feet away from the cart?

I sigh, I wonder how Dr. Soleil is taking it? I knew Adam had also been helping her around the shack and I was honestly surprised the kid could and would help the other miners when you consider the rumors spreading about him. From what I understand, Dr. Soleil was also starting to like the kid.

Oh well, I suppose I had better get ready for some new orders.

**Dr. Soleil's perspective**

I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. But I couldn't because I had patients to attend to. I rushed back and forth between patients in order to see to their needs. I had made a request for more help since tending to all these seriously wounded people all alone was too much, especially with Adam gone…

I took a deep breath and sigh. I need to forget about him for now. No, distractions. Just focus on what is important. I can grieve later.

After a few hours, I heard an airship land somewhere. I decided to head towards the direction of the sound. I reached for the doorknob but before I could pull it open someone else pushed it. Luckily, I was out of the door's range.

When the door opened, I saw a woman. The woman had a fair complexion and wore a black high neck blouse with studded wristbands on the arms, a black and white over bust corset, a skirt with white tulle underneath, gray leggings, and knee-high boots. She also wore a white hooded cloak and had black hair which gradually turned red. What stood out the most, however, were her silver eyes.

"Hello." The mystery woman greeted. She gave me a somewhat nervous smile, "Umm, I am here to meet someone. I heard that he is usually here when not in the mines."

I blinked. There was only one person that did that. My eyes narrowed, "Who are and what do you want with Adam?"

The woman's eyes widen, "Ah, his here then!" She then coughed into her fist and cleared her throat, "My name is Summer Rose!" The woman then offered her hand for me to shake, "And I am both Ana and Adam's new legal guardian! Well, at least for now anyway."

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**Okay done. Sorry I was late. Its just that I've been really busy lately and I also had a discussion with two of my friends (Who also write fanfics) and decided to make a few tweaks to my idea. Originally this arc was supposed to be finished in the next chapter but it will probably end up becoming longer so yeah.**

**Also, no respond to the reviews this time since I am writing this Author's note late at night and I just want to release a new chapter so I will answer reviews in the next chapter sorry. Also, for those wondering, yes, the MC fought an alpha. I thought of making it a pack of manticores instead but then remembered that an Alpha Ursa was once wondering around by itself so I thought, "Hey, this means Alpha's don't always have a pack and a pack of manticores lead by an Alpha might be a bit too much."**

**Also Summer Rose becoming their legal guardian is temporary due to reasons revealed int the next chapter. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer**: **I do not own RWBY or any of the franchise mentioned.**

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**Reality is often disappointing**

**Adam**

This is not what I had in mind when I arrived at the large wall of metal. I mean c'mon that wall is so high it was probably 100 feet high. No wait, maybe 200 to 300. Where is this? Mantle? Oh wait, maybe it is.

From the videos and some reading in the wiki Mantle used to be the capital of this continent before that position was moved to Atlas. Even so, it looks like Mantle is still given some level of protection but still…

There should be a place for me to get in, right? I tried to walk along the giant metal wall to try finding a way to get in. A few minutes later I found what appeared to be a gate with a long line of people walking into the city.

Hmm, looks like there is some form of screening at the entrance but I am a bit surprised to see how many people are walking into Mantle. If I didn't know better, I would think an entire village just got wiped out.

… Okay now that I think about it that seems very likely and I am now ashamed of myself. I activated hide skill and crouched down to study the guards at the gate but I noticed they weren't really paying attention to the people entering instead they were keeping watch.

I furrowed my eyebrows. That is worrisome. These guys looked like they are from Atlas military and from what I heard Atlas was the capital so most soldiers would be there. But from what I was seeing there were at least four dozen human troops and many more Atlas Knights.

I also noticed a Spider bot behind the wall by the gates. I wondered why there was so many troops here. It's as if they are preparing for an all-out assault from the Grimm which wouldn't exactly be a really common thing since Grimm's rarely attack the walls in great numbers with the exception there being a great amount of negativity.

I don't recall there ever being mentioned an incident which would generate a great amount of negativity in Atlas but then again this is probably like ten to twelve years before the main series. Huh, twelve years to farm free 3 experience points each day every day from that daily quest…

I shook my head, no time for that. I should probably focus on getting in and then figure out how I am to get into Atlas. I am sure there is an airship dock in there somewhere that would take me there but then I would need to find how I could get into said airship.

I heaved a heavy sigh. This is becoming a pain but I suppose life will be boring if it were easy. I am so glad that my Bio-affinity skill allowed me to heat up my body or else I would be freezing. Looking at the skill I probably had it in active mode for a few hours now.

It's unfortunate that the skill doesn't really change much when it levels up…

**Bio-energy affinity (level 8): -All physical stats are increased by 23%**

**-Decreases fatigue increasement rate by 13%**

**-Can be used in an active state to increase body heat**

I closed that skill menu and decided to open shop. Yes, this is like solo levelling but instead I tried finding clothes in there. Something white and will allow me to camouflage with the surrounding snow.

Once I found out that this thing had weapon, shield and armour section I checked out the armour section and tried looking for the clothes that matched what I am looking for. Soon I found something and bought it.

Since the clothes was simple it didn't cost that much and the thing is classified as junk by the system. Even so, clothes are clothes so… What surprised me was that when I bought it the clothes fit me perfectly. The thing was a simple hooded cape that covered my entire body.

The inside was red in colour and I am reminded of Summer Rose all of a sudden. I activated my hide skill and lifted the hood over my head. I quietly sneaked in and joined the crowd of people. I kept my head down as to not draw too much attention.

As I walked in with the crowd, I made sure to look around. It didn't look like any of the troops are taking notice of me. In fact, they seem to just let anyone in while making sure no Grimm appears. I noticed one of the guards had their helmet off had bags under his eyes.

Once I saw this, I noticed a few subtle hints in the troops posture. They looked exhausted. What is going on here? Once everyone got in the gate began to close and we were all lead by some of the troops into some sort of building. The building is quite large and had three floors. It was simple and there were beds prepared.

"Alright everyone, until the council can come up with something you are all allowed to stay here for now." One of the soldiers announced, "Food and water will be provided and you can also go out and venture the city but you are required to return here during curfews alright?"

The refugees mumbled agreements. The soldier nods and left us. I waited a few minutes before leaving the building and going deeper into the city. Mantle didn't look so good. A lot of this building looks old and dark but still stable and strong.

There were a few bridges over head and the roads, while not busy, had a few cars and trucks driving through. I took notice of the very little number of Faunus in the city. Scowling, I kept my head down and continued making my way to the centre of the city after all, when in doubt, start in the middle.

What truly got my attention was how many of those robots and soldiers patrolling the streets. After a few minutes I had past at least six patrol squads. There were also numerous drones flying about. I sigh as I tried to think of a way to get to the airships.

**One hour later**

So, I found the docks for the airships. After a few minutes of wandering around trying to figure out how to get to the centre I decided to ask one of the locals where the docks were and they gave me the directions. It wasn't exactly at the centre however so I was lucky to have asked.

Now I face another problem, how to get a ride to Atlas. The price for a flight from here to Atlas isn't exactly cheap. I had very little money on me right now since I get gold and not liens when I kill Grimms and those things can only be used to buy items from the shop.

I leaned back on the wall in an alley near the docks while I contemplated my situation. I tried to see if sneaking in was an option but it looks like that security is extremely tight there. From what I heard; a lot of people tried sneaking in but were caught. However, this prompt security to be tightened.

My sneaking skill is high but I doubt it is high enough for me to sneak around and I don't know the layout of the docks well. I sigh before opening my status window. Looking through it I seem to have levelled up five times from killing that Grimm. My race also deemed to have finally levelled up to level nine, meaning those Grimms helped me level up my race twice.

If my theory is correct my race should be maxed out at ten and from there a higher level of the human race should be available. I wonder what would that be? The only thing I can think of is mutant, Esper, and maybe a medium…

My eyes widen. "NOOOOO!" I shouted to the sky as I fell to my knees. This prompt a few civilians to stop and stare at me for a while before continuing with their business. I fell forward and used my hands to support myself. Now on all fours I can only think of one thing…

The new season of Bleach was supposed to be released next year. Could things get any worse?

My answer came in the form of a blaring alarm. My right eye twitch before I stood up. The civilians seem to be running away from something. Leaving the alley, I looked towards the opposite direction of the civilians and saw…

Something that was most definitely NOT a Grimm. The thing stood fifteen feet tall and was somewhat humanoid. It had red skin that seemed to have strange yellow metal sticking on it at random places. The creature had four arms, each that also had those strange metal on it, in addition to red claws.

The face of the creature looked like a human male but I only saw one side of it since the other half was covered by a blank metal mask. The creature's hair was incredibly long, reaching all the way to its waist and was letting out a neon light. The most disgusting thing about this thing? It had a whole in its stomach and seemed to be the nesting place of countless large worms writhing in it.

**Name: Unknown**

**Level: Unknown (The creature exists outside the laws of the world thus level cannot be recognised using the systems known law)**

Excuse me? What in the world does that mean? I notice the military officers and several dozen Atlesian Knights surrounding the creature and taking aim. However, …

The creature backs into the alleyway and suddenly disappeared. My eyes widen and the officers seemed equally confused. I thought the thing was gone before one of the officers' scream. The officer seemed to be bleeding from his stomach. He looked at the others before being carried by an invisible force and thrown at one of the knights so hard that it broke to pieces.

The others backed away and not long after another knight seemed to be cut into three pieces, followed by another that was flung into an officer and another that seem to have been crushed. One of the officers took aim slightly above the crushed knight and shoot. He must have been smart since the shot seemed to have actually hit something.

He didn't get chance to enjoy this small victory because he left leg was suddenly tugged and he flew into some random window on the fifth floor of a building. The assault started again but this time the creature seemed more violent.

It started smashing the Knights so fast and the officers started to retreat from the carnage before the thing starts targeting them again. While all this was happening, I was watching from the alleyway, thinking on how I might be able to help.

After all there was no point in charging in without a plan of attack. But even so, I was having a lot of trouble figuring out how to counter this thing. It is apparently large, agile and can turn invisible. With my current skill set I doubt I have anyway to help them.

I also had no idea what level this thing is since my system doesn't know how to classify it. It might be weaker than me, stronger than me or perhaps equal. Wait the minute, I do have a skill that can help me counter that things invisibility.

Picking up a trash cans lid, I use construct to turn it into a saw before reinforcing it with mana. I then closed my eyes and focused on that skill. Even if it isn't directed towards me, I should still be able to detect it…

I grin. Got him. I rushed out of the alley way and reinforcing my muscles with mana and bio-electricity along with infusing the saw with bio-electricity as well, I threw the damn thing as hard as I can while using snipe.

Expectations: The saw would dig into the skin of the creature and disturb its concertation in order to get it to reveal itself and if that didn't work then I'll just shoot a lightning bolt at the saw.

Reality: I am now facing a visible, but now one-legged monstrosity.

Thanos: Eat your heart out.

**Dr Soleil**

I never claimed to be one to understand how business works but even so I would like to think I had a good grasp of it. This however, reminded me that I have a lot more to learn. "So what your saying is you got tricked into signing a contract with the SDC to buy Adam and Ana because the SDC refuses to have children under their 'care'," I made an air quote, "to have their aura unlocked because the cost will be much higher to control them but after two days you have to sell them back to the SDC and they only have to pay 40% of what you paid due to said contract."

The woman before me blushed, "Yeah, that's pretty much it." I stared at the woman before me. "I-I never said I was good at business and I trusted what that man said so I didn't read the contract properly before signing it!" I resisted my urge to facepalm.

It seems she only knows how to deal with monsters that are out in the open but those who hide behind suits and friendly smiles are the ones she has no experience off. I sigh, too bad she arrived too late.

"I am sorry but Adam's dead." I told her. No need to beat around the bushes.

Summer Rose blinked before her eyes widened before it looked to the floor. "How did he die?" She asked. It sounded like she was used, or at least prepared to hear this kind of news but then again, all Hunters will face the loss of life someday.

"Adam went missing in an attack from the Grimms when they attack the miners while they were escorted to the mines," I responded, "Someone matching his description was seen leading an Alpha Manticore away from the other miners after getting its attention."

"… He sounds like a good kid," Summer finally said.

"Yes, regardless in the battlefield or in the medical shack it looks like he wants to try and help people." I wondered what kind of person Adam would have become given ten years or more. Especially with his healing ability.

She didn't mention this and never brought it up but every time Adam treated a patient they would heal faster and any medical tools or medicine will be more effective. Wounds that should have taken days to heal would disappear in hours. She never found a good time to bring it up and may never will…

**Adam**

I gritted my teeth as I dodged another tentacle. I thought this thing would be a sitting duck after getting one of its legs cut of but noooo that would be too easy. This beast quickly changed its tactic. It leapt with one leg and latched onto a building before leaping off and try to crush. Even after I dodge it from crushing me, depending how far I am, it would try to use its claws to cut me or those worms in its stomach will lash out and try to grab me.

The officers were shooting at it too and it must have hurt because after two tries the beast decided to turn invisible too. Which didn't make it any easier. At this point, the only reason I am still alive is my detect bloodlust skill.

Every time it was on a building it released enough bloodlust for me to tell where it generally was and every time it leapt down in an attempt to crush me its bloodlust would reach its peak, telling me to get out of the way.

The officers couldn't offer any support but seemed to be calling for back up. Made sense since they couldn't see it but can tell from all the footprints and the fact, I am jumping around the creature must still be in the area.

Some of them were evacuating the civilians in the buildings while others had their guns raised, waiting for even a moment for the creature to show itself, which actually showed how fast and smart the monster is. It leaps down, tries to crush me and attacks with either its claws or its worms before quickly leaping onto another building before the gunners can shoot it.

Another problem is that I couldn't help the gunners too. Even though I can use my detect bloodlust to sense this creature the level of the skill didn't let me tell its exact location, only the general direction. If it leapt to a building then where was it? Was it on the roof or is it latching on the side? If so which side the right or left or perhaps front? And even that which part the upper, middle or lower part? Those things I couldn't tell. I can only tell when its bloodlust was at its peak which was the moment before it leapt at me…

Why am I an idiot?

"Hey, take aim at me!" I shouted. Honestly, this could have been the best solution. The officers hesitated at first but must have realised what I was planning since they did exactly that. I stood still for a moment, waiting until…

The creature's bloodlust reached its peak. I leapt away and shouted, "Fire!" The creature landed at the spot I was at moments ago, just in time to get sprayed by bullets. Some of the bullets missed but most of them actually hit, which was impressive since their target is invisible.

The creature became visible after being pelted for a few seconds and grabbed one of the abandoned cars while shielding itself with the rest of its hands and arms. It threw the car at the officers. They quickly jumped out of the way in order to avoid the car that crashed at the spot they were at before exploding.

Fortunately, the creature had been distracted for a few moments, moments that I took advantage of. Using that same skill, I used on that Alpha Manticore, I pulled out my sword and covered it in yellow electricity as well as reinforcing my arm and the blade with mana.

Sprinting and reinforcing my legs with mana and bio-electricity allowed me to cover the distance between me and the creature and then, I sliced its other leg off. The creature toppled over and fell on its side.

I couldn't help but grin. Let's see it try jumping around now! While I was basking in my small victory, I didn't notice the worm that grabbed my ankle. It yanked me of my feet and the monster whipped me around, slamming me into the buildings and dragging me across them before finally slamming me into the ground hard enough to break the sidewalk to pieces.

I groaned at the pain and, because of my surprise, I didn't reinforce my body with anything. I used my Bio-electricity to heal myself and when I was finally able to get up the creature was gone. I gritted my teeth.

Whatever that thing was, it is gone now. I couldn't detect any bloodlust right now. Whatever that thing was, it is dangerous. More dangerous than the Alpha manticore. It somehow managed to get into Mantle despite the guards. It was smart enough to change battle tactics when it saw me and after having one of its legs cut off, and it had a self-preservation instinct, something most Grimms lack which made it even more dangerous. After all, a cornered animal is the most dangerous. On top of that, I don't know any Grimms with invisibility and worms that can extend itself to a ridiculous length like that.

But it was also thanks to that self-preservation instinct that saved me. Looking at my health, if the thing continued its assault instead of running away, I would be a goner. I was lucky. That was it. In the end my skills and stats weren't good enough. It was luck that saved me in the end.

Sighing, I figured that I have a long way to go. I got up but stumbled a bit. Before I fell, I felt something grab me and pulled me up. Looking at the person who grabbed me the first thing I noticed were his eyes, that were red in colour. He wore a grey shirt, black pants and shoes. His hair was black and spiky.

I recognised him immediately and my first instinct was use serene meditation since I am pretty sure it wore off. "Uh, thanks." I said before standing straight.

Qrow just waved it off. "No problem, I heard a strange Grimm was here and since I was already down here to get away from those uppity people up there," He pointed upwards, "And help out with fending off the Grimms I figured I should come and take a look."

I frowned. A Grimm? No way, that thing I saw was anything but a Grimm. "Are you sure it is a Grimm?" I asked, wondering why he would think that. As far as I know Grimms didn't have red skin, neon coloured hair and metal coming out of it.

Qrow looked at me as if I had a screw loose, "Yeah, humanoid shaped with tentacles growing out from its back. It had two legs and four arms. Torso and limbs had bone plating and the its skull mask looked like that of a Nuckelavee Grimm. At least that was what I heard from the civs I passed by and those soldiers seemed to confirm that."

My frowned got deeper. That was definitely not what I saw. What was going on here? Before I can ponder on things any longer one of the officers came towards us. "Huntsmen, the Grimm has been sighted again a few streets away," He said, "According to its description it seems to be the exact same Grimm that lost both its legs to this young fellow."

A few streets away huh? Damn, even with its legs gone its still moving fast. "The Grimm has already killed five other military personals and several civilians."

"Where is it?" Qrow asked. The officer gave him the directions and Qrow instantly left. I activated my hide skill and ran off in the same direction. Whatever that thing was, it didn't appear in the series. That means that it was foreign, like me. And that means the reason I am here; the source of my powers might be linked to that beast.

While I ran a sudden beeping, sound got my attention and I opened a message.

**Data update complete**

**Name: Epsilon-class Necrosis (New born)**

**Level: 79**

I take it back Thanos. Reality is often disappointing.

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**Okay and that's it. Believe it or not I realise something about this fic. I had to give Adam a new enemy. Why? Think about it. Ten to twelve years of farming free three stat points every day, not counting the stat points he will get from levelling. On top of that this new enemies will also be used to explain the Gamer powers so I already planned to give him new enemies, jut now they will be more powerful. Don't get me wrong, with the power like the gamer his still going to become OP eventually.**

**I kind of want to write a fic where the power of the Gamer is more than just "You now have the Gamer power for no reason now have fun". The source of the Gamer power, the reason why it had to be implemented in this way and why it was implemented in the first place and why Adam and the OC was chosen will be explained in the future, assuming I live long enough to finish it. This will also explain Ciel's power, eventually.**

**Speaking of the System, I am honestly thinking about how much value does one stat point should have. If I base the value on Solo Levelling system then the effects will be at least twice the stat point in the Gamer.**

**In comparison lets take, Seonil Shin. His strength was at 87 and what we saw from him is that he was able to blow a hole in a wall and blow a hole in the leg of that giant zombie boss which didn't even take half its health. Now comparing that to Sung, whose strength was at 49, he was able to throw a broken sword so hard that it pierces the Boss earth golem and basically took away 80 to 90 percent of its health since, according to the hunter, none of their attacks did anything. This makes sense since at the start Sung's Strength stat was at ten and despite being the weakest hunter he is still stronger than most heavy weight lifters. This something I only noticed recently**

**Now reviews,**

**Klutzybear: Thanks, I didn't want to make it go the 'I beat you so now we're friends' route since that doesn't make much sense to me, especially when she believed Adam was a demon.**

**Rey dreemur: Ciel's power isn't gamer based. If I had to say, it is the complete opposite of the Gamer power, in a way. The exact nature of her powers will be revealed.**

**Devildogg237: Thank you.**

**Redripper666: Ciel is not another gamer, her ability is different, the source is different and the reason she has it is different.**

**Battle manga: That answers that question. Yeah, Summer doesn't have a lot of experience dealing with business people.**

**On an unrelated note, I've recently watched the Konosuba movie and I suddenly feel the urge to try writing a fanfic of it where I either insert an OC or give Kazuma a weapon inspired by Lancelot's Knight of Ownership from Fate/Zero and the gloves used by Jack the Ripper from Records of Ragnarok though the enchantments of the gloves only remain for a few seconds after the glove and the 'weapon' it touched are separated. If I make an OC however the guy will be really interesting, I guess if you can deal with a guy who hates humans in general but is willing to sacrifice himself since he hates himself the most due to reasons then yeah. Either that or I make a crossover and put Hazama from Blazblue instead and I can still get, mostly, the same result, I think. Though I am still thinking about it. Maybe I'll just post it as a challenge.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY**

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**Why didn't I do this?**

While I stared at the thing's name and stats a lot of questions started cropping out. Did RWBY had an enemy like this? Why does everyone else see it as a Grimm and I don't? Where did it come from? How do I beat it? Isn't Necrosis a medical term?

While I thought this through, I opened my status menu and saw that I had over sixty stat points to use. Yeah, I am going to spend some of this. Distributing the stats, I pushed my strength, agility and endurance to fifty which unlocked a few skills that made me beastly.

**Skill: Beginner Beastly Muscle Power learnt!**

**Skill: Beginner Beastly reflex learnt!**

**Skill: Beginner Beastly endurance learnt!**

The effects were interesting to say the least. The first skill increases all physical attacks by fifteen percent and the second skill increases my physical speed and effects of physical skills by fifteen percent. The third skill increases my defence by fifteen percent and my health by ten percent.

Hmm, I still have a ton of stat points left…

Opening my skill list and inventory I took stock at everything I had; my equipment, items and skills. After a few minutes of thinking I decided that there is something I can do and double checking the available stat points and doing some calculations in my head I had enough to pull it off. I added stat points to wisdom, boosting it to fifty as well.

**Skill: Greater Understanding learnt!**

My eyebrow rose. It seems that my system granted me a skill once wisdom reaches fifty, unlike The Gamer's which only granted him a skill once his wisdom reached one-hundred. Neat. It looks like the skill increases mana recovery and magic resistance by forty percent. Now that I think about it, the Gamer's system only granted him a skill for his other stats when his strength, agility and vitality reached one-hundred and not fifty too, as if it was trying to tell the gamer from the beginning to go the mage route.

I then began thinking through a bit more. Now with my wisdom increased I can feel myself thinking of more possible measures I can take. Looking around I noticed a few street lights. They were made differently from the ones I am used to.

I smirked. It's not a good idea, but it is an idea.

It took me a few minutes to prepare, a lot more than what I intended but with my Wisdom increased I got more and more ideas. Also, my understanding about my skills and abilities were also getting better.

I arrived at my destination to find Qrow was already there. Figures, with me taking so long and Qrow's crow form he would get here faster. He seemed to be looking around the place. His guard was up and he seemed ready to sprint into action.

I realised quickly that the Necrosis must have turned invisible only recently. That means Qrow must have fought it off. I noticed that he didn't have a scratch on him and his breathing wasn't any heavier.

Figures, he is a professional huntsman while I am not. I noticed a severed arm on the ground. Seemed that Qrow also got an arm. Aside from that, I don't sense any Bloodlust in the area, except from Qrow, meaning the creature is probably gone.

"The Ne… Grimm is gone now." I called out. Might as well tell Qrow that now so he would stop wasting time and alert him of my presence from a far so that he wouldn't get to jumpy and behead me.

Qrow tensed for a moment before glancing back at me. "You can tell kid?" Qrow asked. I felt a bit annoyed for being referred to as a kid but bit back a retort. It can't be helped since I look like a teenager right now.

"Yeah I can," I replied, "Call it instinct or whatever but I can tell if that thing is nearby or not. Helped me stay alive for a few minutes against it earlier." I noticed that Qrow scanned the area one more time before turning around to face me.

"I'm guessing you can't use that sixth sense of yours to track this thing down?" He asked.

I shook my head, "I can detect bloodlust within a certain radius so I have to be close enough to detect it." Or, if the bloodlust is directed towards me which would increase the range of my bloodlust detection by a lot.

"Yeah, I thought so," Qrow muttered, "You should head back to your house kid if you know what's good for you." Qrow said. I felt a bit annoyed at being called a kid before remembering that I am a nine years old right now.

I was tempted to ask "What home?" But held back. No need to give away too much info. I simply closed my eyes and focus. Another stat I had increased was intelligence up to one hundred. Aside from the two passive abilities that increase my magic abilities I also gained that random brain related skill.

Unfortunately, it wasn't telekinesis. Fortunately, this ability can help me find my target. As I focus on my skill, I can sense the emotions of the people around me. Seriously, despite being level one isn't this skill's range a bit too large?

Eventually, I detected the emotion of panic, fear and terror that flooded my senses. "Okay then, see you around Mr. Branwen," I replied before running in the direction where I felt the disturbance. I soon realised my blunder after a few seconds.

Now his going to wonder how I know his last name. I sigh. The damage is done so no point in me getting worked up about it. After a few minutes of running with sprint, bio-electricity and reinforcement active I eventually arrived at my destination.

I stopped a few dozen feet away from where the smoke is coming from before activating my hide skill and quickly, but stealthy approach the closest vehicle, a van, and hide behind it. Peaking over, I saw the Necrosis dragged a human into its stomach with its worms. The man screams and cries out for help before being pulled in.

What I saw happened to him was so horrible that I had to look away and struggled to keep myself from vomiting. Oh god, anime never made something like that look so horrifying and the fact that the stomach was opened for all to see didn't make it any better.

I closed my eyes and meditated for a bit before reaching into my inventory and pulling out something I had prepared. In the next moment I had a black lance that was six feet long with a pointed end on one end and blunt on the other.

I was thankful that the construct skill also works on the street lights which was strangely made out of some sort of conductive metal. Then again, this place uses Dust not electricity. I stood up and pulled my right arm back, taking aim with my new weapon. Again, activating every single form of reinforcement I have to strengthened my arm I also used my other skill.

Completely encasing the lance in blue electricity, electricity created from chakra, formed from combining mana and stamina, I threw the sucker so hard I am pretty sure I heard a 'BOOM!'. I was honestly shock by that. I didn't think that my throw would be strong enough to break the sound barrier.

The necrosis turned around upon hearing that and I was impressed that it had time to try to dodge. Unfortunately, it didn't try hard enough. The weapon didn't hit its head because I had underestimated myself and aimed for its torso instead. I had thought that the attack would be noticed by the necrosis and it would be able to dodge the lance in time if it went for the head.

If I knew the throw would be that strong and fast, I would have aimed for its head and ended everything right then and there. The necrosis was only able to move a few millimetres before the attack completely pierced through its upper right arm and continued until the lance hit and pierced the wall of a, hopefully, abandoned building.

"I'm sorry!" I called out just in case before turning back towards the necrosis. It looks like Qrow had cut of its lower right arm and my attack just caused it to lose its lower right arm. Now all that's left is its left arms.

I was still a bit shocked at how strong the effects are but I especially noticed that the lightning lance was a lot stronger than I had thought, on top of my reinforcement before remembering something important.

That lance used chakra, a combination of mana and stamina. So, in other words it is the combination of both physical and magical power… So basically, any chakra-based skill will reap the benefit of all magic and physical based passives. Cool, maybe I should train my chakra manipulation more.

The necrosis let out an inhumane roar before charging at me but considering the fact it can only move forward with its left side the 'charge' look awkward and kind of slow. I almost felt sorry for it before remembering what it did to that guy a few moments ago.

Reaching into my inventory, I pulled out a ball made out of scraps from the Atlesian Knights mixed with fire and water dust. I threw it at the Necrosis before taking aim with my index finger. Once the ball of scraps got close enough, I shoot a bolt of lightning at it, causing the dust to explode and letting out a lot of steam that blinded the necrosis temporarily.

I summoned another lance but this one had both sides blunt and had a piece of long white cloth wrapped around it. I threw it into the cloud of steam towards the right side of the necrosis while I leapt towards its left and above the steam.

I felt the necrosis bloodlust peaked the moments before I grabbed and held onto an opened window of the building, followed by a loud clanging sound. That moment gave let me know that the necrosis had not move from its spot and that it had attacked my decoy. And since the necrosis only had left arms it had to turn right, meaning its back is now facing me.

Taking advantage of the moment I leapt into the steam cloud with another lance in my left hand and my right before encasing both with blue electricity. As I entered the cloud, I saw that my plan had worked and the necrosis had its back facing me.

I pierce the necrosis where on either side of its collarbone, causing it to wail in pain. The Necrosis began thrashing around, trying to get me of it but I held on. Letting go of one of the lances, I pulled out another lance and pressed it against the Necrosis's neck.

"Construct," in the next moment, the lance became a curved weapon that wrapped around the creature's head with the bladed edge pressing against its neck. Encasing the new weapon in blue electricity as well, I pulled on the weapon.

**You have defeated the Necrosis!**

**You levelled up!**

**You levelled up!**

**You levelled up!**

I tuned out the notification and began cutting the necrosis into smaller pieces before putting them into my inventory. I took the things legs as well and cursed that I wasn't able to recover the arm Qrow severed. I don't know what this is but it might be connected to why I am here and maybe these pieces can also be used as material.

I was disgusted by the worms but I just pushed it in anyway. Soon enough I detected the familiar feeling of a certain Qrow. I really am thankful for my telepathy for that. Now to move on to my next plan.

I took out one of the claws I had of the Necrosis and ran them through my stomach. Was it painful? Yes, yes it was. With that done, I sent the thing back into my inventory and stumbled towards the nearest wall, turning around and just sat there with my back leaning on it.

Looking at my health I can see it trickling down. Using my bio-electricity, I healed myself a bit to prevent myself from dying due to blood lost but not too much until I healed my wounds completely. Damn, this hurt but I'd rather get this done and over with as fast as possible.

After a few moments I caught the saw Qrow rushing into the area. "Hey!" I called out while raising my right arm. Qrow noticed me and quickly ran to my side. Thank God for a huntsmen's slightly enhanced senses coupled with huntsmen training.

"Crap, what happened here?" Qrow asked as he bent down and studied my wounds. "You alright kid? Where did that Grimm go?" Qrow asked before taking a quick look around before turning back to me.

"Can't you tell?" I asked with a smirk, "It was either I killed it or it killed me before you got here and seeing that I am alive…" Hey, I killed an alpha and a few lesser Grimm before adding this kill under my belt today. I am allowed to feel proud at least this once.

"Hmph, don't sound to smug. That Grimm broke your aura after all." Qrow chastised.

Okay now, here goes nothing. "Yeah, about that…" Crap, I don't want to draw attention to myself but I really want it. Maybe it would be better to stay quite but that fight with the Necrosis and Alpha manticore earlier taught me that I need to get as strong as possible so maybe a little attention wouldn't be too bad if it meant survival.

"I… don't have aura." I said. Qrow blinked a few times before looking straight into my eyes. A few moments passed before he burst out laughing.

"Go-good one kid," Qrow said as he calmed down, "I almost thought you were serious." He stopped laughing when he looked at my face again. My grimace must have told him that I was serious. "Wait, your serious?" Qrow asked.

He looked at me as if he was having a hard time believing that I don't have aura. "Guh, look how about you try unlocking my aura? If I am telling the truth my aura will be unlocked and if I am not then nothing will happen." I said.

Seriously, this is really painful and I stopped using bio-electricity when Qrow got here since he might notice the lightning. Qrow rubbed his forehead a bit before nodding. "Yeah, I guess you have a point besides," Glancing at my wound, he said, "You probably need it."

He places a hand on my chest, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul and by my shoulder protect thee." At the end of his chant a bright glow illuminated the area around us and I can feel some form of energy leaving him and entering.

My eyes widen at the sudden rush of power as I feel like some sort of lock on my soul had been released. As the light died down, another appeared. A red energy cloaked my form as messages started to pop up.

**Your aura has been unlocked!**

**Light element detected!**

**Aura manipulation unlocked!**

**Dark element detected!**

**Semblance: Moonslice unlocked!**

Well this supports my theory about aura though I ama bit disappointed my soul did not influence the semblance I got.

**Aether element detected!**

Excuse, me what?

**Aether element is now combining with light element and dark element!**

"What!?" I cried out loud, startling Qrow, who stumbled back from exhaustion and surprise as my aura began to intensify.

**Combination complete!**

**Aethereal Aura manipulation unlocked!**

**Aethereal Semblance: Twilight Consumer unlocked!**

Once I got those messages my aura began to radiate an even brighter glow than Qrow's had. And with a sudden pulse of energy the glow began to subside and my aura returned to normal. I looked at Qrow with wide eyes and Qrow just stared at me with the look of utter shock on his face.

"So…" I decided to break the silence, "That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?"

* * *

**Wow, this took a while. Sorry about that. To be honest I could have finished this earlier but after the quarantine took place, I downloaded a few games on my PC and got… distracted. Hehe, anyway. This chapter is a bit short due to its main purpose being to tell al of you that I still have this story on my mind.**

**And for those who are wondering where the heck did aether come from, it will be explained in the future chapter and for those who are familiar with all types of different stories of the creation of humanity and know what aether is will probably figure out why the Aether element is here. And can guess what this could mean.**

**No respond to reviews this time because I feel a bit weird responding to messages that were sent to me a month or two ago sorry. But if you guys want me to do that then just tell me and I will try my best to respond to you.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

**I think I am making Adam OP. Especially when compared the canon RWBY characters as you will all soon see. Also I am trying out a new way of writing POV since it gets confusing. I tried making it so that when it is the MC it will be First person but when it is everyone else it will be third person. Got this idea from another gamer fic I read. Tell me what you guys think. Go with it or switch back to the previous method?**

**Triple them**

**Adam**

'_I guess this makes sense.' _I thought as I look through the menu. Right now, I was in the company of Qrow as we had just exited a clothes store. It is with great regret that we both discovered that unlocking my aura had not only released a powerful pulse of energy but it also blew my clothes to pieces.

So, I was butt naked in the middle of a snowy town. Thank God for bio-energy affinity. But then again, aura can also be used to keep myself warm. Speaking of which…

**Aether Aura: Aura comes from the light within humans and faunus that was given by the God of Light. However, as a foreign soul, yours is not created from light and darkness but from a single element, Aether. As mortal's breath air the divine's breath Aether, the element that flows through the universe itself. Aether is the source of mana, life energy, chi and aura (Earth variation).**

According to the description, it would seem to generate Aether I would have to use HP, MP and SP together with the ratio of 1:2:1. For example, if I want to generate one hundred points of Aether I will have to use 25 HP, 50MP and 25 SP. However, it also says that the efficiency in Aether generation can be reduced depending on my level of certain skills. For example, if my mana manipulation is level one hundred then the amount of MP required to generate Aether will be reduced however, generating Aether does not train the four other skills.

It says that the Aether generated from this skill will increase in Quality as it levels up but the consumption is completely reliant on the four skill, Life-force manipulation, mana manipulation, Bio-energy (Chi) affinity and Aura manipulation with Aura and mana being considered MP. I don't know what that means to be honest. Well, considering the fact that unlocking my Aura literally unlocked Life-force manipulation and this Aether, I see this as an absolute win. Three for the price of one.

Still, Aura and mana uses up MP… Damn it, does this mean I should focus more on Intelligence? Hmm, or maybe not. Unlocking my aura actually gave a boost in my MP. Aura and semblance are connected to each other and they grow stronger depending on the soul. Translating this, every time I put a point in intelligence my MP will increase by 1.5 while putting a point in wisdom increases it by 0.5. To be honest I want to see how Aether will affect my body before I decide to pursue it. I also discovered that I can separate my Aura from Aether.

**Aura manipulation (level 1): The manifestation of the light within your soul. It acts to defend your body like armor and enhance all physical stats. It also increases HP regeneration and protects the body from extreme temperatures. Mana is consumed depending on the damage receive.**

**-Enhance all physical stats by 30%**

**-Enhance regeneration by 50%**

**-Consumes 5MP per minute when toggled on**

-**Damage taken while aura is active decreases MP rather than HP**

"So," Qrow suddenly spoke up, "I was going to just leave you after this but a friend of mine wants to meet you." This caused me to tense up. Did Qrow call one of his friends and tell them about my aura? If so then I may have just entered somebody's radar. Either he is referring to General Ironwood or Principal Ozpin.

"So where do you plan to take me?" I asked. I doubt he would take me all the way back to Vale right now and if they want to check any irregularities regarding my Aura then where else is better than an Atlas Laboratory?

Yeah, I have to get out of here but if Qrow takes me to an Atlas Laboratory then that means he will take me to Atlas. If I follow him to Atlas and then shake him off to see Adam's sister… No, that would be too risky.

I might be superhuman but I doubt my hide skill and my reinforcements combined will be good enough to shake him, who is a professional hunter. My best option would be to somehow convince him to let me go…

"We'll be going to the Atlas Medical Centre." Qrow answered. I blinked at the answer. Atlas Medical Centre? That is exactly where I want to go. "He'll meet us there once his done settling a few things."

"So, the General's busy? With what?" No harm asking. With how the guards appeared at the entrance and how their seemed to be a lot of refugees. Maybe I can get a better idea with what is going on.

"Well, if I had to guess it's probably related to the fact that Grimm attacks have been getting really frequent lately." Qrow answered, "So far, three villages have been destroyed this week alone but it's weird."

"Hmm, what is?"

"That there are a lot of survivors," Qrow pointed out, "Usually, when an entire village falls only a handful of survivors will make it out if they are lucky and that's a big 'if' considering the fact that Grimms are attracted to negativity a large group of people running away after watching their homes destroyed will be like a beacon for an all you can eat buffet for Grimms." Qrow explained. "And yet as far as we know three villages have fell and a few dozen survivors somehow get here from each."

"Hmm, when you put it that way it does sound strange." I agreed, "Are the Grimms letting the villagers go? And if so, then why?" I muttered to myself. Honestly, this sounds like the Grimms are being told to destroy the villages but leave as many villagers alive. The only person that would come to mind is Salem but I can't think of a reason why she would do something like this.

I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the blaring of sirens. "What is that?" I wondered out loud. I don't recall any information regarding sirens here. But then again, I am pretty sure I haven't seen volume seven of RWBY.

"That siren means that Grimms are attacking." Qrow answered, "More specifically, they broke through the walls somewhere. This is the third time this week and the panic that other Grimm caused definitely didn't help."

"Should we head there to check things out?" I asked. While I'd like to fight alongside Qrow to deal with the Grimm, especially when it would give me the chance to test out my fighting ability on them now that I have aura, I am in a bit of a hurry.

"Yeah we should go check things out." Qrow answered, "I usually wouldn't take someone like you with me but I don't want to leave you alone and you should be able to defend yourself well enough but even so stay back if we meet any Grimms."

I resisted the urge to sigh. "Yes sir." I replied. The faster we get this over with the better. I opened my stats menu and tap the Race stats. Instantly a new window opens and I am greeted with a list. After killing that Necrosis my Human race has reached level 10, which translates to race mastery. With that part done I can now select a different race but…

'_Why is the race list all black?' _Unlike the Human Race, which had white texts and even a star next to it the other race choices were written in black texts. No, not all of them. There is a race that was also written in white text.

**Beast**

I tried selecting the other races but apparently, I need to meet a race requirement for them. I even saw a Faunus option but the thing was black too. Apparently, I need to master the human and beast race before I can select the Faunus race. I also noticed something else. The Race menu was split into several categories. The list I am looking at is the Basic race. However, there is also the intermediate race, the advance race, and two their categories which were both written with the text '**?'**. I can't choose an intermediate race yet despite mastering the basic human race because whatever race that comes after human has another requirement that I need to fulfil before I can select it.

Changing the race, I suddenly gasp as I feel something happening to my body.

**Race change to Beast!**

**Endurance will increase by 10%**

**Intelligence will decrease by 15%**

**Wisdom will decrease by 15%**

**Agility will increase by 10%**

**Stamina will increase by 10%**

**Strength will increase by 10%**

**Dexterity will decrease by 15%**

Wait, wait, wait changing races actually affect my stats? I don't recall this happening. And why do I feel like I lose more than what I gain? Whatever the case I might as well just roll with it.

"You okay there?" Qrow asked. I guess he heard my gasp earlier, "If you're not then you can just sit tight here while I go check things out." Qrow offered.

A tempting proposal. In truth I have made a very decent recovery from the fight earlier so facing a few Grimms shouldn't be too much problem but there is a chance that there will be a high-level Grimm too. I'd rather not risk it especially with the sudden change in stats. The closer one is to their goal the more likely something will go wrong.

"I'll just wait here then, the fight with that Grimm still has its toll on me." I answered. Qrow nodded before running of. I found a nearby bench and sat there. I casually pulled out a few things I got from my inventory.

Opening it, I bring out a silver key. The key was what I got as an item drop from the Necrosis. I checked its description.

**Silver Key: Grants the user the ability to travel back and forth to any level 6 reality universe that user had previously visited.**

Okay, how can something be so straight to the point yet give birth to more questions? What is a level6 reality? I focused again and saw another window open up. In that window, one thing was listed.

**Children of the Eight**

No other descriptions. Hmm, that's strange. The only thing I can think of that might be considered another reality would be the one with Hisui…

Oh, now that is interesting. Before this I was a bit hesitant to fight her after my battle with that priest and was also prepared. I wonder, if I were to fight her again, who would win. Shaking my head, I put the key back. Questions for later but for now.

Pulling out another lance I used construction to change it into a few knives. With my dexterity taking a hit it would be better to increase the number of projectiles that I have rather than just rely on a few powerful projectiles might as well have a lot of weaker projectiles. Even then with the increase of strength and agility my throws will be stronger and faster so saying weaker projectiles isn't really accurate. More like less accurate projectiles.

I kept going at it. Eventually, I had two dozen knifes and five lances. With that done I stood up and practiced my unarmed combat skills a bit. It was after a few minutes that I started hearing a strange ringing sound.

It sounded really close too but looking around I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. After a while of looking a screen suddenly pops up in front of me. I realized that it was the inventory screen but one of the items seems to be glowing.

I blinked a few times before drawing out the item. It was that sword. The demonic blade was still sheathed in the scabbard but the blood on the scabbard was releasing a white glow. I found this a bit odd before realizing something.

I can sense emotions from it. The sword, or perhaps the blood, had a psyche in it. And I can sense it through my telepathy. I couldn't make out what it was thinking, assuming it can think, since my telepathy wasn't high enough level, but I can sense it felt agitated and hunger.

Maybe…

I closed my eyes and focused my mana into the scabbard and the blood. The sword released a brighter glow but slowly started to dim. I didn't know why but I felt calm. The light it released just now wasn't demonic in anyway. It felt calming and filled me with warmth.

I felt a strong urge to fill it up even more. I wanted to fill that warmth even more and the dimming light seemed to be begging for more. I focused my mana and filled the scabbard again and tried to give a continuous stream. The scabbard released a brighter glow for a moment before starting to dim again despite still getting the mana.

I blinked a few times before getting a crazy idea. _'How about this?' _I then tried feeling the scabbard with Aether. The scabbard began to glow brighter, and brighter and brighter. Eventually, the light became so bright I could barely make out the sword.

And then, nothing. The light just died out all of a sudden. I blinked a bit. What was that about? I wondered what just happened. I also realized how stupid that decision was. Playing around with a sealed demonic sword is probably a quick way to hell.

Sighing, I was glad that nothing bad happened. I pushed the sword back into my inventory. I sat on the bench and kept my telepathy up. Seriously, this skill is the easiest for me to level up. The range it has is quite large and the more people in its radius the more experience I get and when the level increases the range increases allowing me to detect more people thus increasing the amount of EXP I gain and since all I can do is feel their emotion and not read their minds it's not that big of a violation of privacy so I don't feel that bad.

I can feel some people were still panicking but many people were starting to calm down. I opened the store and skimmed through the purchasable items. I was looking for a specific item… There it is. I checked the price and my mouth gapped.

Damn, that is more than half of what I have right now! Taking a deep breath, I began contemplating if I should get it. To be honest, if my info is right, I should hold back on purchasing the item until my construction skill has gotten higher. Nodding to myself slowly I continued looking through the available items. Some were within my budget while many were well beyond it.

I sigh as I closed the window. There was nothing that interest me for now that I could buy. I raised my right hand with my index finger pointed out up to my face and channeled mana through it, creating a small sphere of mana hovering above the tip of my finger and inches away from my mouth.

After a while, I allowed the mana to disperse. Great, now I am getting bored. I stood up and continued training my skills a bit more. Maybe I should have gone with Qrow… Shaking my head, I tried my Aether skill. I generated Aether but when I tried releasing it as an attack the energy just disperse out my palm.

Sighing, I tried generating Aether again, but this time I infused it into my right arm. Instantly, my arm felt stronger. I tried it again but this time on my entire body. My body released a faint white aura as I felt the Aether reinforcing it. Unlike my skill **Reinforcement**, which uses mana, this one doesn't cause any pain it just drains my HP and SP but half the MP…

Basically, the cost is divided between HP, SP and MP.

**Skill: Aether Enhancement unlock!**

**Aether Enhancement (level 1): Infusing your physical body/object with Aether enhances all physical attributes and increases magic resistance! The more Aether you infuse in it the higher the stats grow, the higher the quality of Aether the greater the magic resistance becomes.**

Wait, magic resistance!? This skill grants me magic resistance? That is awesome. I got curious and tried to reinforce my body with mana while keeping the Enhancement up. Pain flooded my nerves the moment I did that. I almost stopped before I realized something.

The skills stack. With both skills active my physical stats are boosted significantly. I also realized that when my Serene state wears off my pain tolerance reduces significantly. This means that if I were ever in a situation where I need my physical abilities boosted to a significant degree without serene state the pain will definitely be a hindrance which means…

I sigh. Well, it's not like this is the first time I have inflicted pain on myself anyway. Looking at my HP I noticed that it was going down a bit too fast. I activated Bio-electricity and focused it to heal myself, which caused my HP and rise back. After a while I lowered the amount of SP, I was putting behind my Bio-electricity without stopping the skill. Checking my HP, it was not getting any lower.

Now that I look at it, the bars that is going down is MP and my fatigue seems to rising too. Not that fast though, possibly due to the fact that I have high intelligence, high wisdom and also two different skills that increase MP regen. SP can be credited to high Stamina, the beast race that gave me more stamina and a skill that increased my stamina regen.

I wish that the fatigue bar can be replaced with an SP bar though. That way it would be easier for me to get a more precise estimation. I began pacing back and forth, trying to get used to moving while feeling the pain from the **Reinforcement **skill.

A few minutes later, I tried to perform several simple attacks while keeping the skills up before deactivating them. Looking at my Fatigue bar and MP it looks like my fatigue is up to 80% while my MP is down to 15%.

I stopped my skills but kept telepathy and bio-energy affinity up. Strangely enough, Telepathy doesn't seem to consume MP but it does increase my fatigue. The thing is, my stamina recovery is faster than the rate it increases so no loss there. I sat down on the side of the road and used serene meditation.

I can sense people were starting to calm down now. Some were starting to leave their homes or the buildings to look around. I continued to meditate until I sensed Qrow's presence. I stayed in a meditative state until he got close.

I opened my eyes and stood up to face him. Looking at him, I noticed a few tears on his clothes but other than that, nothing else. "So, I guess everything worked out?" I asked.

Qrow just shrug. "Nothing I can't handle but…" suddenly another siren sounded, "That just had to happen." Qrow sighs before starting to walk in the direction of the sirens. "First the hospital problem, then that Grimm and now this…"

My eyes widen at that, "What about the hospital?"

"Hmm, I can't say much cause there is nothing much that can be said." Qrow answered, "It's just weird, patients there seem to have been hit by some mass hysteria while others just have blank expression all day. Heck, other than eating and drinking when food and water is placed in front of them, they don't do anything else."

"…"

Crap, should I ask him about my sister? No, besides what are the chances that he is aware of anything about her anyway? I better keep my mouth shut about that. Instead, "Mind if I join you this time?" I asked, "I feel a bit better and I want to see what I can do with aura."

"Hmm, too risky." Qrow said, "You just unlocked your aura and have no knowledge of how to use it. Anything I can tell you might not be applicable for you since your aura feels different and my scroll can't detect it."

Ugh, I forgot. Qrow tried to see if his scroll can detect my aura but the trial failed. To the scroll my aura seemed to go up and down randomly and chaotically even if I separated it from Aether. "Well, it's not like you can stop me if I wanted to follow."

"You sure about that?"

My eyes widen and I quickly pulled up my aura. Qrow's first strike me in the stomach and sent me flying. If it hadn't been from serene meditation, I might have reacted slower. But as it were, I was able to react quickly. I twisted my body mid-air and landed on my feet.

I spared no time looking around, instead I rolled to the side just in time to dodge Qrow's kick. My telepathy allowed me to sense Qrow's presence when he rushed at me and I knew from that punch that in contest of strength, facing him head on is suicide.

I stood up and used my mana to create a mana wall to block another one of Qrow's attack.

I saw Ozpin did this once against Cinder and I think Glynda did it too so doing it myself shouldn't be too much of a big deal. I mean, at best it will be considered as aura manipulation… That was only ever used by Ozpin, who had several life times of experience, and Glynda, high level Huntress.

Oops.

Qrow gave me an incredulous look that confirmed my fear. He took a step back and studied my force field. He entered a more relaxed stance and was muttering things under his breath. I put down my field but still kept my guard up just in case.

Qrow sigh and finally speaks up to me. "Alright, you can come along but don't expect me to slow down for you got it?" I nodded.

"Alright, come along…?" Qrow gave me an embarrassed look and I realized that I never have him my name.

"Adam Taurus." I sensed feeling of shock from Qrow before he calmed himself down. I was surprised. Does he know me? No, I don't recall Qrow ever meeting Adam in the series or from Adam's memories.

"Alright Adam, catch up." Qrow smirked before turning around and ran. I wasn't naïve enough to think that I can keep up with Qrow without going all out and knowing him, he was probably telling the truth about the whole 'not slowing down thing'.

I activated my aura (30%) and enforce my body with Aether enhancement (20%), reinforcement (18%), bio-electricity (33%) and activated sprint (30%) to run after him. With my passive skills Bio-energy affinity which now boost all physical stats by 25% and my Beastly Reflex which boost all my speed attributes by 15% and boost the effects of all my physical skill by 15% along with my beast race that increase all my base physical stats, except dexterity, by 10% and my movement speed should be as fast as the movement speed I would have if my agility is at 160…

Holy crap that is almost three times my current base stats. And because most of these skills that are meant to enhance my entire body are only focused on my legs, the upkeep was also cut down significantly. Though the experience I gain for these skills are also less.

Qrow was still fast though. Faster than me but I felt his surprise when he glanced back and saw me managing to keep him in my sights. He couldn't see the yellow electricity due to the fact I was wearing long black pants and unless I was channeling them through my clothes, which would be difficult without burning them, the electricity was only under them.

I wonder if he is going to start thinking that I have a speed semblance. Whatever the case, we met the first group of Grimm's in just a few minutes. The Grimms were a pack of sabretooths. I glanced at Qrow. Taking out my knifes and lances here would be to suspicious so I'd better stick with sword for now.

Qrow charged forward without pause and I followed after him. Qrow then pulled out his sword and swung down at the first Grimm that charged at him, cleaving it in two. I ran past him and channeled Aether into my sword. I decided not to summon the lightning anywhere that is not hidden under my shirt but all other forms of enhancement that is not visible is welcomed.

I draw out my sword in a single motion and cut the front legs of the first sabretooth I met. The Grimm roared as it fell forward with nothing to support its front side. I then stabbed the blade into the top of the sabretooth.

Without looking, I took a step back to avoid a Grimm from pouncing on to me from my right. Apparently, I can also sense Grimms with my telepathy but the only emotion I can fear is hatred, anger and bloodthirst. Speaking of which that skill just leveled up again.

As the Grimm was passing by, I swung my sword upwards, cutting it in half up the middle. That's two down. Another one charges at me blindly. Seeing this, I grabbed the rapidly fading remnants of the Grimm I just cut out of the air and threw it at the third one. The smoke the dead Grimm dissipates into blinded it's living brethren. I ran into the smoke and decided to try something new.

Channeling Aether Aura this time, I used it to enhance my blade. This caused it to give off a slight white glow. I swung the sword and cut into the Grimm's side. The Grimm howled in anger and threw itself out of the smoke. I stopped my Aether aura and chased after it. Before the Grimm had time to recover, I ran the sword into its side and force it to the ground pinning the Grimm down.

The Grimm thrashed around but I kept it pinned. Manipulating my Aura, I raised my left hand up and had my fingers all up so that it would be easier for me to shape the aura around my hand to make it sharper. I then brought the hand down onto the Grimm's neck, decapitating the Grimm.

By the time I took down three Qrow had already dealt with nine. I guess that is to be expected. I sigh. "Well then, should we continue?" Qrow studied me for a bit longer before nodding. The two of us continued running towards where I assumed the breach was taking place.

We met another group of Grimms and this time I didn't care about experimentation. Without stopping, I close in on the closest sabretooth and drew out my sword in a quick slash, cutting into the Grimm's side and dragging the blade across its body, killing it.

Another one lunges at me but I easily sheathed my sword and drew it out again, using the hilt to hit the Grimm's lower jaw upwards before drawing the blade out completely, cutting the Grimm's head in half along with its front half.

Another Sabretooth comes charging at me. Reinforcing my right leg's strength with all the different physical enhancing skills I have; I twisted my body to deliver a spinning kick that sent the beast flying into a wall which surprisingly killed it. Huh, so I don't even need my sword against these guys. I sheathed my sword and doing the same to my right leg to my arms and hands I grabbed the top teeth of a lunging sabretooth with my right hand and a lower tooth with my left, forcing its mouth to stay open.

I then twisted it in the air, causing it to spin in place. I then pulled my fist back and delivered an uppercut hard enough to send the Grimm flying several feet in the air. Two more came at me at the same time. Switching the reinforcement to my right leg and foot, I stomped the ground and propelled myself forward. Using that same leg, I delivered a kick to one of the Grimm's side, causing it to fly and crash into its partner. The two of them flew a few feet away before crashing to the ground.

Before they could get up, Qrow came in and cleaved both of them in two with a well-placed swing of his sword. Glancing behind him, I noticed a few Grimms already dissipating. He still managed to kill more than me. Sighing, I took a look around. I noticed that Grimm I uppercut had crashed onto a mail box which broke its back.

I then got a notice.

**Race leveled up!**

**Skill: Scratch learnt!**

**Scratch (Level 1): The ability to momentarily cause your nails to become sharp claws.**

Okay, where did this come from? Is this something the system gave or is this a subtle nod to the fact my- Adam's- dad married a lion faunus? Now that I think about it, is that why Adam liked Blake?

I sigh, a child of a bull and a lioness. How can the kid not have a temper? But still, that race thing leveled up pretty fast. Well, compared to onis and wild animals, Grimms are way stronger.

"You know, seeing how you fight makes me wonder," Qrow began, "Have you figured out your semblance?" Qrow asked, "That level of physical strength is hard to come by, especially when you only just got aura."

I shrugged, "Aura is used to amplify the physical strength you already have. The stronger you are the more this effect becomes apparent." I answered, "Is it hard to believe I am just that strong?"

I turned around, "Besides, aren't there any more Grimms we should worry about?" As I prepared myself, I noticed Qrow was approaching me slowly with my telepathy. He didn't feel tensed or combat ready.

Turning around, I see him looking at his scroll. "Well, there's nothing to worry about anymore." Qrow said, "Looks like the Grimms are already taken care off." I blinked in surprise.

"That was fast." I muttered and Qrow nodded.

"Yeah, after that first Grimm came down wrecking things, a lot of huntsmen were prompted to get ready to deal with it. The second attack then caused all the huntsmen to head for the walls so by the time the third attack hit, there were a lot of huntsmen ready and close to the walls." Qrow explained.

"In that case, I'm surprised we met two groups." I said. Seriously, if that was the case how did these two groups even got here? They should have been eliminated earlier.

Qrow shrugged, "They would have but several megoliaths came charging out of nowhere so the Hunters got preoccupied with those." Megoliaths? What is that? A bigger version of the goliath Grimms or something? Questions for later.

"Yeah, alright." The two of us turned back where we came from and headed for the docks. "So, what do you think about my fighting power?" I asked. I was curious on how I compare to the hunters in this world.

Qrow snorted, "In terms of speed and strength? You're in the higher up of a second year in a huntsmen academy, maybe even third year but in terms of skill? A first year would laugh at you." I sigh. Makes sense I supposed and even my physical ability is only that high after all that enhancement. Without them, Qrow's evaluation would plummet.

"Seems about accurate." I agreed, "So, should we head for Atlas?" I asked

"No, not yet." Qrow answered, "It would be better if we scout the area a bit to make that was the last of them. Got to make sure that was the last of them." I heaved a great sigh and nodded.

* * *

**Qrow**

Qrow looked at the kid as he sighs. He wasn't lying when it came to his physical assessment. The kid is about as strong and fast as a second year or perhaps a third year in the huntsmen academy. Which is surprising.

Why? Because of how Huntsmen trained. Depending on the fighting style of a huntsmen they would be really strong, fast or high endurance. For example, Summer was quick, even without her semblance, but in terms of strength, those who trained focusing mostly on strength in the second year could over-power her despite herself being a newly graduate huntress.

The thing is Adam had the strength of a second-year student focused entirely on strength and the speed of a second-year student focused on speed. What he lacked was skill. The best explanation would be that Adam had been using his semblance to enhance his stats.

Is it a strength amplification semblance or a speed amplification semblance? On the other hand, if he really did discover his semblance already then that is impressive on its own. Most people don't discover what their semblance is in the first year with some hunters not even discovering what their semblance was until they died. If Adam discovered what his semblance was and could utilize it without even day passing by then that on its own is amazing.

Also, the fact the kid's name is Adam Taurus which matched the name of the kid Summer went to pickup and supposedly died to an alpha manticore. Hell, he has red hair and bull horns too and since Ana had cow ears and red hair it is kind of obvious that the two are related and Qrow just found the supposedly dead brother. They even had matching eye color and the same last name.

Which is another mystery on its own. How is the kid that got chased by an Alpha without Aura survive that? Running all the way from where they were attack to Mantle while being chased seemed farfetched, somehow losing it too since its basically a white carpet outside with a few trees outside. Killing it? Impossible. Without aura and no prior training doing such a thing is impossible. And yet he claimed to have killed that Grimm that had appeared in Mantle…

'_Damn it, this is so confusing!' _ Qrow cursed internally. Another thing was the sword. Where did he even get that? Did he get it from some corpse outside? Qrow began to wonder, _'What if this kid got proper training?'_

"Umm," A voice broke Qrow's train of thought, "Should we get going now?" Adam asked. He seemed a bit anxious.

"Why? Do you want to go to the hospital that badly?" Qrow asked. He noticed Adam momentarily tensed before forcing himself to relax. _'So, he really might be the same kid if he wants to go there and see his sister and seeing his reaction from me mentioning some trouble at said hospital he wants to get there as soon as possible, which supports the theory that he is the same Adam from the mines.'_

And that added more mystery, Qrow had some idea about the working environment in the mines so he was even more confused that Adam's speed or strength could reach the level it did with, what he assumed, very little free time to train.

Back to the original topic, going to the hospital sooner won't really help with anything and its not like the girl is going anywhere. "Yeah let's go patrolling the streets a little bit before heading up."

* * *

**This chapter is a bit longer than the ones before but oh well. Also I just started college again so updates will get a lot slower. Sorry. Okay so next chapter will be the MC finally going to Atlas. So as you can see, he is pretty much broken with the many skills he has that can be used to enhance his physical attributes. Bad news is that going all out consumes a lot of his resources but that problem is solved by focusing on enhancing certain body parts instead the whole body.**


End file.
